Slammiversary 2007: King of the Mountain Lifts a Wild Anniversary Card

Rhino and Senshi joined forces against LAX's Homicide and Hernandez, with Hector Guerrero supporting the winners and Konnan appearing for LAX. Their opener combined stiff strikes from Senshi with the raw power of Hernandez, who tossed Senshi across the ring when the smaller wrestler tried to control him with kicks. Homicide briefly isolated Senshi with an elbow from the ropes, but Rhino made the hot tag and drove the challengers back with a powerslam and belly-to-belly suplex. Senshi then used a springboard dive onto Hernandez outside, freeing Rhino to concentrate on Homicide in the ring.

Konnan attempted to send a slapjack to Homicide, but Hector Guerrero intercepted the interference from the apron and disrupted Homicide before he could use it. Rhino struck with the Gore, and Rhino pinned Homicide to secure the 8:25 victory. Senshi and Hernandez were members of the match, not the fall participants; Konnan and Hector remained seconds. C+ / 6.8 reflects the energetic opening tag, clear heel interference and decisive finish without treating the bout as a championship contest. SKIM Rhino's comeback and the attempted weapon exchange.

Jay Lethal's Black Machismo presentation connected strongly with the Nashville crowd as he challenged Chris Sabin for the X Division Championship. Kevin Nash watched from commentary while Sonjay Dutt scattered flowers around the ring. Sabin tried to blunt Lethal's speed with knees, a running bulldog and an eye rake; Lethal answered with a suicide dive, springboard moonsault and high-risk counters. Neither man had a stable advantage until the champion missed an attempt to stop Lethal at the ropes. The bout stayed an ordinary singles title match despite the colorful corner personnel and repeated homage to a classic wrestling persona.

Lethal recovered with a superkick and facebuster, then used the Lethal Combination and climbed for the Macho Man-style diving elbow. Jay Lethal pinned Chris Sabin at roughly nine minutes to win the TNA X Division Championship. Nash entered afterward to congratulate his protégé, not to share legal credit for the fall. The B- / 7.4 recognizes the enthusiastic crowd and clean title-switching finish even though the athletic exchanges are familiar to regular X Division viewers. WATCH the last finishing combination and the change of champion.

Tennessee Titans alumnus Frank Wycheck teamed with Jerry Lynn against James Storm and Ron Killings at Slammiversary in Nashville, with fellow Titans player Kyle Vanden Bosch accompanying Wycheck. Storm mocked the home football crowd by wearing a Titans helmet, taking a staged handoff from Killings and deliberately dropping the ball. Wycheck eventually tagged in to drive the heels backward with shoulder blocks and dropkicks, though Storm and Killings isolated him again when the contest moved to ringside. The encounter depended on its football crossover and the hostility toward Storm rather than a sustained technical tag display.

Storm landed a superkick on Wycheck, but Vanden Bosch disrupted the cover at ringside. Killings held Wycheck in place for Storm's attempted beer-bottle strike; Lynn interfered, sending Storm into a counterattack and causing the weapon plan to backfire. Wycheck then delivered a powerbomb and Frank Wycheck pinned James Storm. The winning fall was scored by the former football player, not Jerry Lynn, and Killings was not pinned. C- / 5.8 reflects the novelty focus and celebrity involvement. SKIP for a pure match-quality rewatch; the beer-bottle reversal supplies the historically distinctive finish.

Bob Backlund returned to singles action against Alex Shelley with Chris Sabin's association looming over the feud. Shelley used a headlock and scissoring submission to frustrate the older wrestler, but Backlund lifted him onto the turnbuckles and answered with a butterfly suplex and atomic drop. Sabin ran in to assist his tag partner, trying to catch Backlund by the legs, but Backlund shook the ropes and sent Sabin awkwardly onto the turnbuckles. The interference did little to improve Shelley's position and contributed to a short bout more interested in contrasting generations than settling a genuine competitive rivalry.

Backlund gained leverage in the ensuing scramble and Bob Backlund pinned Alex Shelley with a bridged roll-up at just under four minutes. After the bell Shelley briefly shook Backlund's hand before Sabin attacked; Backlund trapped first Sabin and then Shelley in the Crossface Chicken Wing as Kevin Nash, Jerry Lynn and Jay Lethal became involved in the chaotic aftermath. Their arrival did not make any of those wrestlers participants in the official match. D / 4.5 acknowledges the limited ring content despite the surprising physical counters from Backlund. SKIP except for the interference and post-match angle.

The Voodoo Kin Mafia's B.G. and Kip James faced Basham and Damaja, accompanied by Christy Hemme, in a very short tag encounter. Basham and Damaja took brief control of B.G. by cutting the ring in half, but the veterans' speed in returning to their corner prevented a sustained bout. Kip entered after a hot tag and attacked both opponents. Basham and Damaja tried to combine for a double suplex on Kip, leaving themselves vulnerable when B.G. came in to stop one member of the team. The match was booked mainly to bring the Hemme and Lance Hoyt storyline onto the pay-per-view stage rather than to build a long tag contest.

B.G. speared Basham as the double-team attempt failed. Kip James pinned Damaja with a roll-up in the recorded brief victory. Contemporary accounts differ in their shorthand description of who made the last cradle, but the historical individual-fall ledger assigns Kip the pin on Damaja; that source discrepancy should stay acknowledged rather than creating a fictitious extra pin. Afterward Kip pursued Christy, only for Lance Hoyt to appear and deliver big boots to both members of the Voodoo Kin Mafia. D- / 4.0 reflects a compressed in-ring segment and a much more consequential post-match betrayal. SKIP the bout unless following Hoyt's allegiance.

Eric Young wrestled Robert Roode in a Freedom Match, with Ms. Brooks accompanying Roode and the stipulation tying Young's independence to a victory. Young entered with strong crowd support and started with dives before Roode slowed him through neck attacks and chinlocks. Brooks repeatedly interfered, prompting Young to retaliate by mocking her at ringside and briefly putting both Roode and Brooks on his shoulders during his comeback. Roode recovered with a chair and, while Brooks distracted the referee, struck Young to secure an apparent pin. Roode immediately declared that he still controlled Young's contract and that the situation was over.

Jim Cornette intervened and ordered the contest restarted because of the concealed chair shot. Gail Kim prevented another Brooks-assisted attempt, leaving Roode focused on an apparently helpless opponent. Young suddenly caught him with a cradle; Eric Young pinned Robert Roode after the restart at the recorded 9:09 total match time. The earlier Roode cover was overturned and was not the final result. The C+ / 6.8 recognizes a clear storyline outcome and the crowd's investment even though the two-stage finish owed more to interference and authority than to wrestling progression. SKIM the restart and reversal of Young's servitude.

Team 3D defended the TNA World Tag Team Championship against Rick Steiner and surprise replacement Road Warrior Animal. Scott Steiner had suffered a serious throat injury in Puerto Rico and could not wrestle, prompting Jim Cornette to ask Rick to find a suitable partner. Animal's arrival drew a Nashville reaction and temporarily made a conventional title defense into a reunion-era nostalgia match. Rick began against Brother Devon and controlled several stretches, while Animal later powered both champions backward with shoulder blocks and a double clothesline. Despite the size and name recognition, the abbreviated format offered only a few exchanges before Team 3D resumed working together.

Animal called for the Doomsday Device, but the champions interrupted the setup and countered with a reverse variation of the 3D. With Rick back in the ring, Team 3D struck with their signature double-team finisher. Brother Devon pinned Rick Steiner at the recorded 6:39 to retain the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Animal was a legitimate wrestler in the match, not a manager, and Scott was absent due to injury. The D+ / 5.3 reflects the narrow physical window and nostalgia-heavy booking rather than an invented title switch. SKIP beyond the replacement reveal and deciding fall.

Sting lowered himself toward the ring from above before facing Christopher Daniels, whose recent promos claimed a more dangerous and self-appointed higher purpose. Daniels carried the early exchanges with a mix of abdominal stretches, a springboard moonsault and strikes to the corner. Sting attempted an early Scorpion Deathlock, but Daniels reached the ropes and recovered. Daniels also slammed Sting against the barricade from the apron, showing more offense than the short runtime might imply. The two wrestlers worked a singles match with no championship on the line, while the theatrical entrances and Daniels' personality shift supplied much of the larger story.

Daniels threatened Angel's Wings and later turned toward his Last Rites finisher. Sting countered and hit the Scorpion Death Drop. Sting pinned Christopher Daniels in roughly six and a half minutes, preventing Daniels from making good on his challenge. No referee disqualification or third-person interference was needed for the deciding fall. The C+ / 6.5 reflects a compact character matchup with a recognizable counter finish, not a showcase comparable to the night's world-title contest. SKIM the last exchanges to see how Sting escaped a run of challenger offense.

Abyss and Tomko fought under No Disqualification rules in the final violent attraction before Slammiversary's King of the Mountain main event. Tomko repeatedly attacked outside with metal objects after Abyss spread thumbtacks in the ring; Tomko even drove Abyss backward into the tacks to turn the intended trap against him. Abyss answered with the Black Hole Slam for a near fall, but introduced a second bag containing broken glass when that failed. Tomko sent Abyss into the shards and cut his forehead with a piece, then pursued him up the ramp using a barbed-wire bat. The attack was part of the legal match, not grounds for an automatic disqualification.

Both climbed the entrance scaffold, where Abyss grabbed the bat and knocked Tomko down through a padded stage area before following him with a diving splash. After returning to the ring, Abyss caught Tomko and delivered another Black Hole Slam directly into the broken glass. Abyss pinned Tomko, with the source ledger listing a 13:54 runtime while a retrospective cut runs shorter. The B / 7.6 credits memorable stunt violence and the escalated finish while noting the unusual reliance on weapon set pieces. WATCH the scaffold exchange and deciding glass landing; Tomko was not submitted or pinned by the earlier Slam onto plain canvas.

Five men fought for the vacant TNA World Heavyweight Championship in Slammiversary 2007's King of the Mountain final. A wrestler had to pin or submit an opponent to become eligible to hang the belt, sending that opponent to the penalty box. Chris Harris qualified first by pinning A.J. Styles after the Catatonic. Kurt Angle later delivered an Olympic Slam to Harris from a ladder and pinned him, gaining his own eligibility. Styles and Samoa Joe repeatedly broke up attempts to finish the match, but neither scored a qualifying fall. Joe applied the Coquina Clutch to Angle, forcing a tap while the referee was down; without an official to record the submission, it did not grant Joe eligibility.

Christian Cage exploited that referee bump by pinning Angle, becoming the third eligible contender. Later Joe threw Styles off the penalty box through a commentary table; Harris and Cage then contested the last ladder climbs. Cage was knocked from the ladder as Angle climbed opposite him, and Harris speared Cage away. Angle secured the belt above the ring: Kurt Angle hung the TNA World Heavyweight Championship to win in the recorded 19:21. The title did not change on a final three-count, and Joe's unrecorded choke-out was not a legal qualifying fall. A- / 8.9 reflects inventive reversals and a coherent title payoff despite the many qualification and penalty-box interruptions. WATCH the closing ladder sequence.