By Garrett Kidney
May 30th, 2013
USF Sundome in Tampa, Florida
- Decent opening promo from Bully but not the home run necessary to really drive home Slammiversary and the match with Sting. They could've done with letting Sting deliver a trademark, energetic, passionate promo because it's a shame to bench him on the go home show (though the video later in the show was very good). Good match and Sting looked good, I'm looking forward to the Sting/Bully match so long as they don't overbook it.
- They didn't really need Dixie out there though I suppose they wanted to make a more formal announcement of the Hall of Fame (which better be Jarrett). They also didn't really need to do a match between Bischoff and Joe, especially with how short it was. They could've easily done this segment without the match. The six man is a decent addition to the show though.
- Decent eight man but nothing great (hopefully they're saving the good stuff for Sunday). Gunner looked good, lets hope he doesn't disappear for months again. This is another match that could be excellent, Slammiversary looks a good show on paper, shame the go home hype wasn't a little more dynamic and creative.
- Mickie's over the top insincerity was great. It's a shame the crowd didn't really catch on. Also I'd have preferred if they announcers pointed out that Mickie didn't help Velvet. I'm still annoyed at how pathetic the hype for an Ultimate X match was. No video package showing some of the biggest highspots in Ultimate X history, no announcers really putting over match and the guys in it haven't talked about it being an Ultimate X match. This stuff should be the basics, there's a reason Ultimate X doesn't mean anything anymore.
- Okay main event but nothing special with AJ working a different style (essentially making it a heel vs. heel match). I hope AJ working like that doesn't take away from his match with Angle. Show closing brawls are lame at this stage though, they're always too generic, lacking standout moments (bar the closing 3D) and not creating the desired effect (a hot, chaotic go home segment).
Closing Thoughts
A decent show but as a go home show it lacked energy and a real hard sell for the PPV. They need to try harder to sell these feuds rather than throwing everybody out in random matches.
