After some hurdles of uncertainty, conflict of pre-taping shows, false rumors of departed Knockouts and even a production hiccup during the event, Slammiversary has come and gone for another year. At the very least, it was an actual live PPV and did not have the air delay that Bound For Glory 2014 had. You’re almost there TNA! Even with all these barriers in TNA’s way, this year’s Slammiversary managed to put on a solid show with fun matches that includes our Knockouts match on the card. Leading up to the big Knockouts title triple threat match this Wednesday, Brooke and Awesome Kong would team up once again to take on Jade and Marti Bell with Taryn Terrell joining them this time around in a handicap contest.
After a mini pre-match video package highlighting all of the Dollhouse’s domination over the Knockouts division, the Dollhouse make their synchronized entrance first. Once in the ring, the Knockouts champion requests a mic which Marti fetches. Taryn begins her self admiration by stating that not only is she the longest reigning Knockouts champion but she is also the greatest champion in history. Taryn continues by gagging as she name drops her opponents Brooke and Awesome Kong and reminding them that just as they have the advantage at Slammiversary, they will also have the advantage when it comes to this week’s title match. This is their house and playtime is just beginning.
As Taryn concludes her promo, Brooke’s music hits but she doesn’t enter the ring right away and instead waits until her partner Awesome Kong makes her entrance as well. When Awesome Kong does find her way down the entrance ramp, Brooke is beyond excited, jumping up and down next to her more serious toned partner.
The team of Brooke and Kong waste no time picking apart members of the Dollhouse when they enter the ring, Kong going after Jade while Brooke handles Marti. The numbers game prove to be an early headstart for the Dollhouse when Taryn tries to make the save for both of her DFF’s only to be trapped in the same corner as Jade when Kong counters the champion attack from behind. It is now Marti who tries to make a save but as with Taryn, Kong manages to be a step ahead and instead sends Marti to collide into the same corner as the rest of the Dollhouse.
With the Dollhouse all stacked in one spot, Kong whips Brooke in their direction for a speedy attack and adds a running splash of her own. The entire Dollhouse goes down and soon find themselves outside the ring where they huddle up for some straitening. They decide to have Jade start things off against Awesome Kong, who gains control of the match after a combination of strikes and chops to Jade at a corner.
Jade fights back with several kicks and begins to gain momentum after dodging another one of Kong’s running splash. With the help of the top ropes, Jade traps Kong and connects more kicks to Kong’s upper-body. Meeting back in the center of the ring, Jade continues to land several more kicks to Kong but gets taken down with a powerful clothesline when Kong finds a chance to counter.
With Jade down, Kong follows up with a splash and into a pin cover. Marti runs in to break the three count but hits Jade by mistake when Kong moves out the way. Kong goes for another splash to Jade and Marti, distressing Taryn who watches close by from the ring apron.
Kong makes a tag to her partner and Brooke enters the ring via hurricanrana from the top rope to Jade, sending her across the ring. Jade fights off Brooke from a corner and makes the tag to Marti, who chokes Brooke with her boot upon entering the ring. Marti goes for the pin after a somersault take down but Brooke manages to kick out.
Still grabbing a hold of Brooke, Marti makes a tag to Jade, who hits a suplex to Brooke and goes for a pin but fails to manage to get the three count when Brooke kicks out. Kong extends her hand, looking for a tag but Jade locks Brooke into a bear hug submission.
The Impact Zone begins to rally up behind Brooke, Kong taps the turnbuckle ready to get back in the match and Brooke is able finds a way out of Jade’s submission maneuver to get to Kong but coincidentally Marti trying to interfere distracts the referee before he could see Brooke make the tag thus keeping Brooke the legal woman in his eyes.
In the midst of the argument between Kong and the official, Jade takes Brooke to the side of the Dollhouse where all three women beat her down. The referee turns his attention back to the match but completely misses the “tag” Jade makes to Marti, who simply just claps her hands in the air to make up for it. Lucky for Marti though, the referee takes her word that she legally made the tag unlike the case when it was Kong. A pretty bad case of timing of things if you ask me.
Marti goes for the pin shortly after the Dollhouse beat down to Brooke but Brooke is able to kick out. A spear from Brooke takes Marti down and it now becomes a race for both teams to get a tag, Brooke managing to at last make the tag to Kong while Marti relies on Jade once again. Kong begins quick work on Jade, demolishing her with a running crossbody into a pin. Mati breaks the three count and the Dollhouse look for a double team attack. They whip Kong to the corners, setting up for a double clothesline but Kong runs right through it and instead couners with a shoulder block.
Kong makes the tag to Brooke who enters the ring from the top rope again, landing a double clothesline to Jade and Marti. Taryn yells of disapproval from her side of the apron and Kong walks to her direction to quiet her down by attempting a choke slam. However, it doesn’t happen as Kong releases Taryn from her grip to get out the way from an oncoming attack of Marti, who accidentally takes out Taryn.
Awesome Kong still manages to hit her signature choke slam, feeding it to Marti on one side of the ring as Brooke lands her “Butter Face Makeover” finisher from the top rope on the other side of the ring. Brooke goes for the pin and is able to get the win over the Dollhouse for a second time, picking up some fire for their match this week!
In a bonus post-show interview, Brooke displays her excitement at the win. Kong does too, but with decidedly less enthusiasm:
Elsewhere on this Slammiversary show, Karen Jarrett makes an appearance on the card’s main event by accompanying her husband Jeff Jarrett in his return King of the Mountain match.
The Queen of the Mountain is in a flashy dress, yelling out words of support to her husband and even slapping the face of Eric Young when he gets in the way of her husband’s way. In a no surprise to almost no one, Jarrett would win the “new” King of the Mountain title (which is actually just the Legends/Global/TV recycled) and after the match the entire Jarrett clan would enter the ring in celebration.
Thoughts: Although we did just recently watch a match very similar to this match not too long ago, I found this one more enjoyable the second time around. There was a lot more time spared given the three hour show which allowed for different spots throughout the match.
Jade continues to prove that she is the muscle of the Dollhouse and I loved her interaction with both Awesome Kong and Brooke. Speaking of which, the team of Brooke and Kong looked great with their new looks and I enjoyed seeing Kong still hold onto her powerful dominance even as a babyface versus the monstrous heel she is known to be. Brooke continues to be the fan favorite with the audience and while I’m not a fan of the new name of her finisher, it is still effective and I loved the different ending to the match coming from the top rope.
However, there were some down points to the match for me; the biggest being that never once was Taryn tagged into this match. I would’ve liked to see her get her hands dirty given she is the champion and did open up the match with her promo of claiming to be the greatest Knockouts champion in history. I can understand her having her posse do most of the dirty work but certainly there was room for her to get physical at least once. It almost takes away from the fact that this was a handicap and might as well as have been a tag match with Taryn just standing a ringside.
I also found the fact that the referee completely missed Jade’s tag to Marti but took her word for it to be a clumsy move when he had just dismissed Kong’s case of the same claim. Maybe it was just a sense of bad timing but it just looked bad for the official to take the word of one side, more so when it’s the Heel, instead of being fair to both sides.
The Jarretts leaving with the latest TNA title to take back to GFW makes me further believe that there is a possibility to see future projects between both companies. Always a good thing to see promotions work together and I really think the two can benefit from one another. Any chance of seeing Karen on TV is always a treat.
