[2005-06-19-TNA-Slammiversary] Raven vs Monty Brown vs Abyss vs A.J. Styles vs Sean Waltman (King of the Mountain)

[El-P]

Raven vs Monty Brown vs Abyss vs AJ Styles vs Sean Waltman (King of the Mountain match)

 

It's official, the King of the Mountain match is my favourite overthought gimmick match. It should not work. But it's the second one I see, and it's even better than the first. It's both insanely convoluted yet makes perfect sense in execution. And it's *fun* because you can actually tell stories amidst the crazy spots. The fact people get send in the cage allows startegies to take place. The cage + ladder makes setups for crazy shit, and does it deliver. Amazingly, Jeff Jarrett gets "arrested" before the show, so he doesn't get to do the job in his own gimmick match. What a great carny Jarrett is. I guess it makes for a better match, as everyone contributes in a very positive way. Monty Brown pounces people left and right and throw bodies around. This guy had so much potential. AJ Styles and Sean Waltman are making plans while being stuck in the cage at the same time, but of course Waltman crosses Styles at the right time, so it sets up a feud between the two. Raven bleeds like it's ECW 97, Abyss does his share and, well, the final is awesome, with a serie of spectacular, brutal spots which actually *make sense* and allow Raven to win the NWA title. Whoever booked this must be praised. Yeah. I say it, this is a great garbage gimmick match, with stories, insane shit and a truly chaotic feel, while never going overboard on the ridiculous. And Raven winning had me mark out eleven years after the fact.

 

Great cap off a nice PPV which had the debut of Samoa Joe, and a few really good segments like the best use of Jimmy Hart in eons and a fun send-off for Scott D'Amore who will get busy backstage booking, apparently, TNA's best era ever. Plus a good triple threat match (rare enough) in Daniels vs Bentley vs Sabin, a cool matwork/tricky Shocker vs Alex Shelley match. One of TNA's best show thus far, easily, which sent a positive vibe for what's to come to.

[fakeplastictrees]

I have always enjoyed the KOTM matches. What I think hurt TNA was the fact that the matches were so low budget. From the shifty looking cage to the suspect (and only one) plastic ladder--it just made for a very cheap presentation. If KOTM had a WWE budget (multiple ladders and 4 cages on either side of the ring) it would have made for a better visual. The action in the ring was always good and this match is a good example (as in the first Final Deletion) of TNA having good quirky tendencies and not the bad ones that have lead them on the brink of closing its doors on so many different occasions.