411Mania Anthem Big Bang Anniversary Slam Review 7.02.17
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– They have pretty great video packages to highlight the new beginning of Anthem AMPED. Unfortunately they also hype the long history of some of the wrestlers with the company. So they’re still not 100% sure whether they want to be completely new company or not. Anyway, welcome to Anthem Big Bang Anniversary Slam!
– An Anthem Owl (...yeah) flies to the ring to some generick rock music.
– The four-sided ring is back! Who would’ve thought? (Answer: everyone). So now because they’re new company and all and they don’t want people to think them as TNA, I think it’s a good idea to brand the company with a normal wrestling ring. Or something.
– The first big surprise of the evening: They introduce the announcing team but there’s no Jeremy Borash! Instead they have Josh Mathes… DON WEST and MAURO FUCKIN’ RANALLO on the call! Don West announces his one night comeback to the company and Ranallo tells he’s here to stay. That’s huge!
– Before the first match Jeremy Borash’s music starts to play and Borash enters the ring. He tells that beginning this day, he has been chosen as the new commissioner of Anthem: AMPED. With his new role Borash welcomes everyone to Anthem Big Bang Anniversary Slam and promises that this indeed is the night where it all begins… again. Are they really allowed to say that?
Anthem Tag Team Title Match: Champions LAX (Santana & Ortiz) w/ Konnan, Diamante and Homicide vs. The Fatus (Junior Fatu & Junior Fatu Jr.): Huge surprise in the beginning as LAX doesn’t come to the ring only with Konnan and Diamante but also with HOMICIDE who makes his Amped comeback (or should I say debut) here. So we lost Hernandez but got Homicide, I think that’s okay. Anyway, Homicide isn’t here to wrestle but to support Santana and Ortiz. Junior Fatu (Rikishi) and Junior Fatu Jr. (Jey Uso, yup that’s his actual new ring name) do some dance before the match. Jr. Fatu Jr. and Santana start the match. Double Junior starts controlling: Chops, Irish Whip, Back Body Drop, Samoan Drop, Double Underhook Suplex… Finally Santana avoids Stinger Splash and hits a Dropkick instead. Santana tries Suplex of his own, but Junior Junior blocks that and tags in Normal Junior. “Junior” Fatu gets huge pop but looks out of shape. Still he manages to do a Samoan Drop and after that throws Santana onto a corner. STINK FACE! No, Santana is able to hit Fatu below the belt and the referee doesn’t see that because Homicide is interrupting him. Santana crawls to his corner and tags in Ortiz. Junior Fatu tags in his son who tries to attack Ortiz but Ortiz dodges his clothesline and hits a huge neckbreaker. LAX starts finally controlling the match: quick tags in and out and fast moves. Konnan works the crowds, Junior Fatu is furious. Finally Junior Fatu can’t take it anymore and enters the ring. The referee stops him and Rikishi starts to argue with him. That allows Homicide to enter the ring and HE HITS A COP KILLA! Cop Killa to Junior Fatu motherfucking Junior! Santana covers, the referee is at the right place at the right time and counts: 1..2.. But Fatu Jr. Jr. gets his shoulder up! Santana and Ortiz continue controlling the match and try to get the pin but Jey Uso makes it every time. Finally Junior Junior Junior is finally able to hit a Northern Lights Suplex on Ortiz and he makes the tag! Junior Fatu hits a sloppy Junior Fatu Driver and then drags Ortiz onto a corner… AND FINALLY A STINK FACE! Everyone is happy! At least at the Amped Zone. Junior Fatu Covers: 1..2..2,999999! Santana saves his partner, Junior Fatu Junior enters the ring and all hell breaks loose. Jey Junior takes Santana and himself out of the ring with a huge clothesline. At the same in the ring Junior Fatu tries to hit another Junior Fatu Driver but Ortiz counters it into a Sunset Flip! Junior Fatu tries to kick out but Konnan pulls his shoulders down and the referee doesn’t see it: 1..2..3! Champions LAX (Santana & Ortiz) defeated The Fatus (Junior Fatu & Junior Fatu Jr.) @ 10:05 via pin [***] This was a good opener. Unfortunately Rikishi is still out of shape and shouldn’t wrestle anymore (which isn’t a huge surprise since he’s 52 years old). On the other hand Jey Uso looks great, and hopefully Anthem starts to push him as a singles wrestler with his daddy as his manager. Ortiz and Santana are pretty good although not excellent. Homicide did look fine. So all in all pretty solid opener and fun tag team title match. Nice way to start the show.
- They interview some fans at the ringside. Nothing special.
Eli Drake & Chris Adonis w/ Tyrus vs. 1.3 Strong (Raj Dhesi & Mahabali Shera): Drake and Adonis come out with Tyrus, so he’s back. I was a kind of glad not to see him during India tour but… yeah. Dhesi (The Artist Formerly Known As Jinder Mahal) and Shera try to play the role of sympathetic faces but they get lukewarm reaction. I still think it’s fresh idea try to build them as legit faces and not to make them play stereotypical “Evil Asian” (I think even WWE wouldn’t try that anymore since it’s 2017 already - or at least they wouldn’t try to build some “Evil Asian” as their world champion like they tried to do with Khali a couple of years ago). Dhesi looks BIG. Good god, what stuff he’s been eating? Good bye, wellness policy. Okay, Dhesi and Adonis start the match which looks fun because Dhesi is in better shape. They brawl a little and then Dhesi starts to control the match with some basic moves: Neckbreaker, DDT, Cobra Clutch Slam… Adonis turns it around with an eye poke. Tags in Drake who jumps on the top rope and hit a Flying Crossbody. Nice move. Gets nice pop from crowd but Drake tries to save it with a not-so-nice hand gesture. Shera tags himself in and gets surprisingly loud cheers. Shera tries to hit a Lariat but Drake avoids it and hits a Neckbreaker. SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT! Drake covers: 1..2.. No. Adonis returns to the ring. Reverse Chin Lock. Boring. Shera hits a couple of elbows and slams Adonis with a Hip Toss. Elbow Drop. Cover. 1..2.. No. Tag to Dhesi. He gets on the top rope. Seems a little bit unsure. 450 SPLASH! What the fuck? Didn’t think Jinder Mahal would ever be able to do that! Obviously, I was wrong. It wasn’t the prettiest 450 Splash ever but still a nice 450 Splash. Crowd is surprised also and counts aloud: 1..2..3! 1.3 Strong (Raj Dhesi & Mahabali Shera) defeated Eli Drake & Chris Adonis @ 7:55 via pin [**] I’m maybe too kind but I have to give at least two stars because of Mahal’s 450 Splash. He deserves it for pulling that off - especially with all the steroids he’s clearly been taking for last two or three months. Otherwise the match wasn’t anything special. Not bad but just stale. Drake is good but he shouldn’t be tagging with Adonis. Tyrus did literally nothing at ringside. Anthem clearly has big plans for 1.3 Strong.
- Post match, Dhesi and Shera celebrate in the ring and Dhesi cuts a short promo in Punjabi. Nobody understands it.
Anthem Grand Title Match: Champion Moose vs. ???: Moose enters the ring and cuts a short promo about his open challenge. Then some generic rock song starts playing and initials CH appears on the screen… IT’S CHRIS HERO! Okay, it’s official. This ‘new’ Anthem is exactly the same as TNA. They’re willing to hire anyone who WWE releases and who wants to sign with them. I’m actually surprised they still don’t have Ron Killings on their roster considering the long history between Killings and TNA. Heck, I’m surprised they didn’t hire Primo and Epico as the new members of LAX. But I have to admit I’m REALLY happy to see Hero. He was (once again) misused in WWE and if he wants to stay in TNA, I think they have a place for him. Actually I'm happy but mostly SURPRISED since just a week ago Hero appeared in ROH Best in the World and challenged Cody Runnels for the world title match. I guess they saw that in Anthem, loaned some extra money and bought Hero off from ROH. So this match is for the infamous Grand Championship. Bruce Pritchard, Jeremy Borash and (SURPRISE!) Jeff Jarrett are the judges. Jarrett looks like a shit which isn’t surprise considered everything that has happened to him lately. Hero gets nice reaction while walking to the ring. They start the first five minute round. Hero controls the first minutes with nice kicks and elbow smashes. Moose tries to get in control but isn’t able to do that. Hero hits a Jumping Piledriver. Cover: 1..2.. Moose gets his foot on the rope. Hero continues controlling the match, hits a huge German Suplex and then a Standing Moonsault. The crowd gives a huge pop. Still can’t get Moose pinned. Moose gets up and punches Hero straight to the face. Time runs out. Judges award the first round to Hero. The second round starts and Hero is still holding his jaw after Moose’s punch. Moose continues what was interrupted and hits a Bicycle Kick. 1..2.. No. Moose continues controlling the match with some power moves. Moose attempts to get quick covers but Hero gets his shoulder up every time. Finally Moose becomes frustrated, throws Hero outside and hits a Powerbomb onto the ring apron! Moose throws Hero back to the ring and covers: 1...2...2.999! Close call! Time runs out. The second round goes easily to Moose: Hero wasn’t able to do anything. When the bell sounds for the final round, Hero is still holding his jaw. Seems bad. Moose hits a Headbutt. The crowd boos. Hero falls to the canvas. Moose starts climbing onto the top rope. MOOSESAULT! No! Hero rolls away! Hero gets back on his feet… And hits Moose with a straight fist! Ranallo calls it a Knockout Punch and Moose is literally knocked out. The referee raises his arm once… twice… and it falls onto a canvas third time. Anthem Grand Title Match: Chris Hero defeated Champion Moose @ 11:30 via knockout [***] I’m not a huge fan of the ending - especially if this means they try to make Hero ‘their Big Show’ or if they try now to play around with his former name (“KO Kid”). Well, that’s not a big problem because otherwise this was a good match. Good brawl, good power match, both looked good. Would’ve been of course better without the idiotic Grand Championship but this is TNA… I mean, Amped, for you. If they treat Hero correctly, they can have a great semi Main Event star in him.
- Hero gets the microphone and, yes, stars to speak about how he hates WWE, NXT and especially Vince McMahon. Awkward. He continues by saying that when he was just a kid, he wrestled here and it was amazing. How it is possible because this is a completely new company?! I’m confused. Okay, the promo wasn’t the best moment of Hero’s career but it’s now done and we can continue onwards.
- They bring bost of the women’s division at the ringside to watch the next match. Allie, Ava Storie, Christina Von Eerie, Laurel Van Ness, Rebel… AND GAIL KIM come out! Gail Kim is here! I’m more interested in her than either of the wrestlers of the actual match.
Anthem Women’s Title Match: Champion Rosemary vs. Sienna: I have to admit I don’t have even the slightest interest in this match. Amped’s whole women’s division is so… dull. Rosemary has a fun character but she lost everything when Abyss and Crazzy Steve left the company. The bell sounds and they brawl right away. Rosemary continues to control, hitting a Russian leg sweep and covering for 2. Van Ness distracts Rosemary, allowing Sienna to attack and take control of things. Rosemary fights back, tossing Sienna to the floor and she then argues with Van Ness. Rosemary up top and dives onto Sienna. Back in and Rosemary hits the corner elbow charge, and then counters a German, sending Sienna to the buckles. Sienna quickly fights back, hitting the German. Rosemary sits up and Sienna takes her down with a lock and then ground and pound. Sienna then slams Rosemary to the corner, follows with kicks and then lays in the boots. She chokes her out with the boot, and then Rosemary fires up, hitting a back elbow and the tarantula in the ropes. Sienna then sends Rosemary to the floor and follows her out. Sienna rolls her back in and then misses a corner charge, Rosemary sets her up top and follows. Sienna fights her off and Rosemary falls in the tree of WHOA but pops up and hits a German suplex off the ropes. Rosemary back up top and hits the missile dropkick, the corner forearm follows and then the XPLODER. Sienna avoids the high kick, hits the corner charge but Rosemary counters the silencer and slams her to the buckles. Cover: 1..2.. No. Rosemary looks for red wedding, but Sienna escapes and hits the silencer for 2. Rosemary battles back, hits red wedding and Van Ness pulls out the ref. Fucks sake. Van Ness leads the ref away but Allie chases Van Ness away. Belt shot by Sienna but Rosemary kicks out. Sienna blocks the mist, tries to choke out Rosemary but then rubs it in Rosemary’s eyes and locks in the guillotine and wins. Sienna defeated Rosemary @ 10:00 via submission [**] Okay wrestling, pretty bad booking. Van Ness’s and Allie’s interference were irritating at the best. Still the biggest problem is that anything about this isn’t even remotely interesting.
- The best thing about women’s situation comes after the match when Gail Kim enters the ring and raises Sienna’s arm. They have an intense staredown. Maybe Gail Kim can once again save the division? Or maybe it’s too late even for that?
Full Metal Mayhem: Eddie and Alisha Edwards vs. Davey Richards and Angelina Love: Eddie and Alisha jump Richards and Love during their entrance. Eddie hits a dive and Alisha hits a high cross off the top and to the floor. Love brings in a ladder and Eddie and Richards brawl at ringside. Love slams Alisha onto the ladder as Eddie slams Richards onto the apron. Love and Richards being in a table now, Richards has a kendo stick and attacks Eddie. Alisha suplexes Love onto a chair as Richards lays in the kicks to Eddie. Eddie fights back with an XPLODER onto the ladder in the corner. Eddie and Alisha attack with trashcan lids, Eddie puts a trashcan on their heads and they hit it with kendo sticks. Eddie powerbombs Alisha onto Richards and that gets 2. Love attacks Eddie with the kendo and Richards hits a brainbuster onto a chair, covering Eddie for 2. Love now has thumbtacks, pours them into Eddie’s mouth and Richards kicks him in the face, Alisha makes the save. She then spears Love, low blows Richards and Eddie hits the running knee strike. Eddie gets a table, slides it in and he and Alisha set up tables as Love is busted up on the nose. Eddie sets Richards on a table, he climbs the ladder. Love tries to pull Richards off the ladder but Alisha powerbombs Love through a table. Richards fights back, they fight on top of the ladder and Richards hits Vertical Suplex off the ladder and through the table. Both men go through the table, Richards seems to be in as bad pain as is Eddie. Huge move! Crowd is cheering wildly. Richards crawls on top covers Edwards but gets only 2. Alisha is the only person on her feet in the ring. She picks up Love and tries a roll up that gets 2. Eddie rolls out of the ring, picks up a couple of chairs and throws them into the ring. Eddie hits Richards with some hard elbow shots, then brings him down with a backbreaker. Eddie sets Richard’s head between to chairs and… Love saves the situation. Love has been able to throw Alisha through a table out of the ring and now she hits Eddie with a chain. Love starts strangling Eddie with the chain, Richards gets up and picks up a chair. HE HITS HIS OWN WIFE STRAIGHT TO THE HEAD WITH THE CHAIR! Of course not intentionally, Richards tried to hit Eddie but at the last second Eddie got out of chain, ducked and Richards accidentally hit Love with the chair. Love drops down out cold and her face is covered in blood. Brutal. Richards is in shock, tries to wake up Love. Doctors and medical team run to the ringside and they start checking Love’s situation. Eddie drags Richards outside the ring, pours some shard of glass onto the ground… BRAINBUSTER! Brainbuster onto the shard of glass! Both guys are bloody mess. Eddie throws Richards back to the ring, sets up the ladder. Alisha comes back to the ring. Eddie looks at her, then the ladder. Alisha starts climbing the ladder and on the top of the thing she looks at her man. Eddie nods, Alisha takes deep breath… LEG DROP OFF THE TOP! Richards is done, Alisha covers him: 1..2..3! Full Metal Mayhem: Eddie and Alisha Edwards defeated Davey Richards and Angelina Love @ 15:40 via pin [****] This was one hell of a match. I had a high hopes about this one but still didn’t think they could pull something like this. One of the best intergender tag team matches ever. Also one of the best hardcore matches of 2017. Everyone put their body on the line, especially have to respect the crazy chair shot Angelina Love took. Amazing match, MOTN so far.
Amped Altitude Anthem Altitude Title Match: Champion Sonjay Dutt vs. Low Ki vs. Matt Sydal vs. Drew Gulak: In a vintage LOLTNA move (so should we call these LOLAMPED now on?) they have the other big stipulation right after the first one. Because what the hell. And about that big stipulation… Yeah, it’s Ultimate X Match just with a couple of small alterations. Instead of X they have Dutt’s championship belt hanging from blue and green wires above the ring. And the ring announcer tells us that LADDERS are allowed in this great match. Whoopi-fuckin-doo. Dutt and Sydal get nice crowd reaction, Low Ki is welcomed with actual boos - but Gulak seems to be the biggest star of the match in crowd’s eyes. Gulak has his suit on on he cuts a promo about the stupidity of this stipulation. Gulak says that they should have an actual wrestling match and not this circus shit. After that he attacks all three guys and takes them to the mat with snap suplexes. Huge GULAAAK-chant from the crows. Gulak grabs Dutt’s leg and locks in ankle lock. Dutt is in pain. At the same time Sydal and Low Ki get up and they start fighting each other. Nice moves: Low Ki hits really stiff kicks until Sydal blocks one and hits enzuigiri of his own. Gulak still has Dutt on an ankle lock. Finally Dutt makes it to the ropes and rolls out of the ring. Out of nowhere Sydal knocks Gulak out with a moonsault off the top rope. Low Ki is up again and he starts fighting with Sydal again. Gulak rolls out of the ring and drops Dutt on top of a ladder with a scoop slam. Sydal and Low Ki counter each others moves until Sydal is able to hit a headscissors takedown. Sydal climbs on the top rope… AIR SYDAL! Rolls out of the ring, gets a ladder and throws it to the ring. But Gulak is already in the ring and he hits a ladder straight to Sydal’s face with a baseball slide. Gulak sets up the ladder, looks it with a disgust… and starts climbing. But Dutt comes out of nowhere! HUGE Missile Dropkick! Dutt holds his left ankle in pain. Gulak seems to have knocked his head badly and he rolls out of the ring. Dutt gets up and starts climbing the ladder still holding his ankle. He makes it halfway when Low Ki gets up and starts climbing the ladder as well. The men meet on the top of the ladder and start exchanging punches. Finally Low Ki avoids Dutt’s forearm smash… And hits a huge roundhouse kick straight to Dutt’s head! Dutt falls down! Low Ki looks the belt but then gets second thought, climbs standing on top of the ladder… And, yes, WARRIOR’S WAY FROM OFF THE TOP OF LADDER! Low Ki tries to get up but is too exhausted. Dutt is holding his abs. Gulak is still out. But Sydal is back in the ring! His head is crimson read (since the baseball slide) and he throws the ladder out of the ring. Instead he climbs onto a top turnbuckle and jumps to the ropes. Slowly he makes it to the middle, starts to loosen the belt… POWERBOMB! All of sudden Gulak is back in the ring and he brings Sydal down with a huge powerbomb. Sydal falls straight on top of Low Ki and both men roll out of the ring. Gulak isn’t finished: he picks up Dutt (still holding his left ankle) and hit a Spine Splitter! Dutt is out as well. Gulak looks around: no ladders in the ring. Crowd is cheering wildly, and finally Gulak jumps to the ropes and starts climbing to the belt. All the other men are knocked out, while Gulak loosens the belt… And falls down to the ring while holding the championship belt. Amped Altitude Anthem Altitude Title Match: Drew Gulak defeated Champion Sonjay Dutt, Low Ki and Matt Sydal @ 14:40 [***½] Pretty good X Division Match. Okay, Anthem Altitude Match. But because everything seemed to be just the way they were earlier, I have a right to call these match an X Division Match. Sydal, Low Ki, Dutt and Gulak are good. None of these guys did anything really special and I was hoping for some really bat shit crazy spot that we didn’t see. Still, great high flying match which is always nice to watch.
- Video promotes a new era of Anthem Amped. Beginning from here, there’s going to be big improvements and so on. We’ll see.
Ethan Carter III vs. Johnny Amped: This is the long-awaited debut of Johnny Amped (John Hennigan/Johnny Nitro/John Morrison). He comes out with some new Dave Oliver song. The crowd seems to be really excited to see him in the ‘Amped Zone’ and I have to admit that this is the moment I’ve been waiting myself. Amped starts the match quickly: Hits a leg lariat, then a running forearm smash and finally a tilt-a-whirl DDT. Follows up with a standing shooting star press and covers EC3 for 2. Amped gets onto a top rope… Diving crossbody! EC3 catches him and hits a huge fallaway slam! EC3 starts controlling the match. One German suplex, two German suplexes, three, four, five, six, seven… The crowd is going crazy. Eight German Suplexes! Covers: 1..2.. Amped gets his shoulder up barely! Amped is exhausted and EC3 continues beating him up. Carter kicks Amped to the head a couple of times and then locks him up with a rear naked choke! EC3 tries to finish Amped with the hold, Amped seems to be in pain. Amped is passing out. The referee raises his arm. Once and twice but not the third time. Amped continues fighting, hits Carter with elbows to stomach and and finally EC3 has to release the hold. Carter gets on his feet and lets Amped do the same. Amped has a lot of problems even getting up, he’s beaten up badly. EC3 hits the One Percenter! Announcers are sure that the match is over but Amped is still able to get his shoulder up just before three count. EC3 is furious, he pulls Amped up and tries to hit a some kind of pedigree-looking-move that the announcers call “ECD”, Ethan Carter Driver. But Amped counters it! He hits a hurracanrana! Both men are laying on the mat and the referee starts 10 count. 1..2..3..4..5.. Amped starts getting up bet he seems to be too exhausted. EC3 is shaking his head and trying to get up. Both men get on their feet about the same time. Amped hits a Superkick out of nowhere! EC3 falls down like a tree. Amped gets sloooooooowly on the top rope. Looks the crowd. Holy shit! He hits 450 flip that’s transitioned into an elbow drop! Huge move! It’s called Amped Elbow. Who would’ve guessed. Amped covers EC3. 1..2..3! Johnny Amped defeated Ethan Carter III @ 12:45 via pin [***] Another good match in this show, good job Anthem Amped! Also there has been almost none of the normal batshit-craziness of TNA/Impact/GFW/Whatever. Maybe they really are trying to build up this promotion as a “serious option” for WWE. It’s hard to think Anthem Amped could do that but maybe it’s possible now when WWE is crazier than ever. So the match was good: Amped looks good and can be the next superstar of this company. The big question is of course how long he’s going to stay in the company. EC3 looked also good as always but he needs something to freshen up his character.
- It’s time for the “big” “Main Event” of the evening: Alberto El Patron defends his championship against Disco O’Neil. Before that they run a series of shots from backstage where wrestlers that weren’t involved in any match are waiting to watch the huge championship match. There’s Caleb Konley, Idris Abraham, Kingston, Trevor Lee, Death Crew Council, Reno Scum and Veterans of the War… Oh, there’s two more! Matt Morgan and Magnus are standing in the same locker room and waiting the match to start. So they’re still with Amped! All in all this seemed to be Amped’s way basically just to introduce their whole roster to new viewers. As in there would really be any new viewers. Oh, whatever.
- Jeremy Borash comes to the ring holding something that’s covered. Of course it’s the new championship belt that Amped has been hyping for weeks. Borash uncovers it and it’s… a championship belt. Nothing special. No, wait! The close up reveals that in the middle of plate there’s a picture of an owl. An Anthem Owl. Okay. Okay. Borash holds the belt up, gets out of the ring and sits down with it at the timekeeper’s table.
Anthem World Heavyweight Title Match: Champion Alberto El Patron w/ Dirty Dutch vs. Disco O’Neil: El Patron comes out with Dirty Dutch, and they get a good heel reaction. Disco O’Neil comes out with some generic disco music and gets almost zero reaction. This, my friends is your main event. Because YOU voted Disco O’Neil to become the #1 contender. Oh, you didn’t vote for O’Neil. Don’t worry, probably none of us did. But Anthem doesn’t give crap. So there’s the actual LOLAMPED for you. O’Neil tries to get the match going and crowd cheering with two nice clotheslines and a big boot. El Patron sells them well and rolls out of the ring. O’Neil poses in the ring and gets a little pop from Amped Zone crowd. El Patron and Dutch have a time out, they’re “rethinking their strategy”. O’Neil doesn’t care: he dives out of the ring with a some kind of crossbody! O’Neil knocks both El Patron and Dutch out. It wasn’t the prettiest dive out of the ring but I have to give O’Neil credit for at least trying. O’Neil throws Dutch onto a steel post, and picks El Patron up. El Patron was playing possum and pokes O’Neil to an eye. El Patron hits an arm wringer, rolls to the ring and resets the count by rolling out immediately. He continues working O’Neils arm by stomping on it. Then he picks O’Neil up, wraps his arm around a ring post… and nails a roundhouse kick straight to the damaged arm. O’Neil yells in the pain, El Patron seems to be pleased with himself. El Patron rolls O’Neil back to the ring, checks Dutch’s situation and taunts the crowd. O’Neil gets back to the ring, climbs onto a top rope and tries a moonsault! O’Neil is barely able to avoid it. O’Neil gets to his feet and holds his arm. He tries to shake it up. O’Neil waits El Patron to get up and when he finally does it, O’Neil hits a shoulderbreaker. Covers but gets only 1. O’Neil picks El Patron up with his good arm and tries a vertical suplex. O’Neil is holding El Patron up for at least ten seconds with only one arm. The delayed vertical suplex gets finally good reaction from crowd. O’Neil covers again, this time he gets 2. Dirty Dutch is back on his feet outside the ring and he starts smashing the apron nervously. O’Neil does some disco dancing before El Patron gets up again. Now O’Neil tries his patented Sky High Spinebuster… But can’t do it! His arm is too injured. El Patron seizes the moment and rolls up O’Neil: 1..2.. O’Neil barely makes it. El Patron wastes no time and locks O’Neil up with the Cross Armbreaker! Rompe Destinos! They’re almost in the middle of the ring. O’Neil yells loudly. There seems to be nothing he can do. The referee is at his face. Is O’Neil giving up? Yeeeeeeeee….. NO! Somehow O’Neil manages to get one of his foot on the bottom rope! El Patron is outraged. He pulls O’Neil back to the middle of the ring, tries to lock up a cross armbreaker again, but O’Neil kicks him straight to the face! El Patron tries to hit a step-up enzuigiri but misses! O’Neil gets up, dodges El Patron’s forearm smash… AND HITS THE SKY HIGH SPINEBUSTER! Somehow he is able to do it with only one arm. El Patron is knocked out but O’Neil can’t cover because he is in too much pain. Seconds go by... And finally O’Neil throws himself on top of El Patron. 1..2…..3! It’s true. It’s damn true. Anthem World Heavyweight Title Match: Disco O’Neil defeated Champion Alberto El Patron @ 12:15 [**] Good god. I don’t know what to say. Disco O’Neil is our new champion. The match was mostly nothing. Not bad but not good either. I think O’Neil selling his arm was mostly okay but almost anyone else could’ve done the same. El Patron looked really weak: he lost to one-armed spinebuster although hadn’t take almost any pounding before that. If this match had been in the middle of the show, it would have been okay and I would’ve had nothing to complain. Now they decide to put the dullest match of the main show (okay, 1.3 Strong vs. Drake/Adonis was maybe a little bit weaker) as their main event and then reward the most boring WWE reject with their world championship.
– Jeremy Borash enters the ring and presents the owl championship belt to Disco O’Neil. Disco music starts playing and O’Neil celebrates in the ring by dancing with his championship belt. The crowd is mostly in shock, O’Neil gets almost no reaction. Out of nowhere Disco Inferno comes out and starts dancing with O'Neil. El Patron rolls out of the ring, Dutch is outraged. Confetti starts to fall from the rafters.
– End scene.
– Thanks for reading.
THE FINAL SCORE: 7.0/Good
– I have to say that Big Bang Anniversary Slam 2017 was mostly a good show. Tag team title match was a good opener although Rikishi is way too old and in way too bad shape. The second match was okay and served its purpose. Chris Hero’s comeback/debut was the biggest markout of this event. Women’s match was the most pointless part of this show but the match was okay. Full Metal Mayhem was clearly the MOTN and stole the show. “Don’t call it Ultimate X” Match was a really good spotfest. Johnny Amped was the biggest star of the show and the match with EC3 was good but left waiting for more. The main event was… Well, there had to be some big letdown because this Amped/Impact/TNA/GFW for god’s sake. All in all matches were good and basically all of them were booked in a really normal way which is nice.
– Don West was great in his return to commentary, and Mauro Ranallo is awesome. I still don’t understand why WWE let him go. Probably West won’t stay but Ranallo and Matthews will make a good announcing team.
– Big Bang Anniversary Slam definitely wasn’t any kind of revolutionary show but it was good wrestling with at least some interesting names so I would say that especially in TNA standards this was really successful show. Thumbs mildly up.
– What you need to see: Full Metal Mayhem, Chris Heros’ entrance, Johnny Amped’s debut, Ultimate X Match and the WTF finish of the main event.