Slammiversary has (in the last couple of years) been TNA’s biggest event of the year with some of the biggest matches taking place, that said some matches that have taken place at TNA’s biggest event of the summer haven’t always lived up to the hype.

While some of the entries on this list are not out right bad (with some actually being good), their second time around ended up being a rousing success and in some cases better than the original.

#5. Taryn Terrell vs. Gail Kim (IMPACT! 2013)

Gail Kim and Taryn Terell’s feud in the 2010’s was a breath of fresh air for TNA’s Knockouts Division which had become stagant and a bit dull around this time.

Their match at Slammiversary 2013 saw them competing in the first ever Last Knockouts Standing match with both Gail and Taryn putting on a classic that got the company some much needed positive media attention…However as legendary as the match is, it isn’t perfect.

The first half of the match comes off like a standard wrestling match with not much speak of; The fans inside Agganis Arena felt the same as the crowd responded to the action in a tepid manner until the moment when Gail unintentionally runs head-first into a steel chair in the corner that she previously set up.

From there, iconic moments like Taryn getting her leg sweeped by Gail and the famous shot of Gail being hit with a diamond cutter off the stage end up happening and it’s this that makes this match so memorable…Cut to the July 11th, 2013 edition of IMPACT! and both ladies are again facing each other, but this time in a ladder match for a shot at the Knockouts Championship.

The fans are more alert from the opening bell and the physicality from the previous match continues on with both Gail and Taryn putting everything at task with former Knockouts Champion coming out on top.

#4. AJ Styles vs. Kurt Angle (Hard Justice 2008)

The year 2008 was an interesting one for professional wrestling’s only Olympic Gold Medalist as he started the year off as TNA World Heavyweight Champion and then ended it as part of the legendary faction known as the Main Event Mafia…however in between all of that, he lost the belt to Samoa Joe at Lockdown, was out of action with a neck injury and got into a feud with AJ Styles in the summer after ‘The Phenonamenal One’ kissed and “married” Kurt’s wife, Karen…Turns out Jeff Jarrett wasn’t the first one to steal Angle’s girl and make a feud out of it.

In early 2008, Kurt tried to repair his relationship with Karen leading a moment where they would renew their wedding vows, but instead it ended up in a big whole mess with AJ planting a kiss on Karen to an episode of IMPACT! much to the distain of Angle. After quitting the Angle Alliance and getting beaten up by Tomko and Kurt soon after, a match was made between Angle and Styles in the semi main event for that year’s slammiversary.

The match was great all things consider, but the finish was a bit silly as Karen came to the ring with a steel chair near the end in order to fool Kurt that she was on his side only to give Styles the oppertunity to pick up the win.

At the following month’s Hard Justice pay-per-view, Angle and Styles fought each other in a Last Man Standing match and thankfully this one didn’t have a ridiculous finish; For nearly 25 minutes, these two went to war with Kurt even doing a flying senton off the stage mere months before his more famous one with Abyss at Turning Point.

#3. Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy (IMPACT! 2016)

Matt and Jeff’s feud with each other has taken place in both the WWE and TNA with the latter seeing more matches between the brothers both on TV and PPV with 2016’s Slammiversary being the host to one of these encounters.

After embracing his broken brillance, Matt continued to make his brother’s life a living hell leading to the Hardy boyz battling in a Full Metal Mayhem match where they used everything they could get their hands on with the servable match going over 17 minutes with Brother Nero picking up the victory.

As the feud continued on absolutely no one expected it to end the way it did on the July 5th 2016 edition of the IMPACT!…Yes I am talking about the notorious ‘Final Deletion’.

The combination of backyard and cinematic wrestling mixed with over the top theatrics, the Final Deletion was their Slammiversary match taken to ludicrous level which included fireworks, drones, dilapidated boats, and just about any other crazy thing the North Carolina natives were able to come up with as Broken Matt was able to pin his brother and failed deleted him.

Naturally, opinions split on this “match” with a section of fans decrying the whole thing and using it as another way to ridicule TNA at one of it’s lowest points while others celebrated it for it’s over the top nature and willingness to try something completely out of the box.

While Matt Hardy’s ‘Broken’ gimmick might not be everyone’s taste, it did revitalize his career and gave TNA some of the best coverage it’s had in a long time.

#2. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Trinity (Emergence 2023)

Following her shocking walkout of the WWE with Sasha Banks in 2021, Naomi aka Trinity Fatu came to in TNA in 2023 to a hugh pop and looked poised to become the next Knockouts Champion. This led to the then champion, Deonna Purrazzo confronting Trinity which would eventually set up their match at Slammiversary and the bout itself was…disappointing.

For all the hype surrounding this match, the end result was a decent tv match with Trinity making Deonna tap out to become the new Knockout World Champion, I mean Purrazzo’s entrance with the violinist was the most memorable thing about the whole match for crying out loud.

When the rematch was set to take place at Emergence and was scheduled to be the main event no less, some fans were worried about seeing a sequel to their underwelming first encounter…Instead what fans got was a incredible match between the two with Purrazzo’s viciousness and technical style of wrestling on display while Trinity proved she could hang with the Virtusoa in an ultracompetitive bout.

Much like their previous match, Trinity made Deonna tap out and retained the Knockouts Championship in what might be one of her best matches of her entire TNA run.

#1. Lio Rush vs. Chris Sabin (IMPACT 1000TH)

Speaking of Slammiversary 2023, the show had a few bouts that gave way to much matches in the future; From the aforementioned Trinity/Purrazzo match to Kazarian versus Eddie Edwards with their wives at ringside to this first time ever dream match between TNA legend, Chris Sabin and former WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Lio Rush.

Known for their high risk styles of wrestling and with the X Division Championship at stake, fans were anticipating an instant classic…They got it, but just not the way they expected it.

As Sabin was about to walk his way to the ring, Rush attacks the champion leading to the referee and medics to check if he can still go. Sabin said he could but he probably wished he didn’t as he was hit with a dropkick and a ‘Final Hour’ frog splash for Rush to score the three count and become the new TNA X Division Champion in only 80 seconds.

It was was certainly one heck of a Slammiversary moment for sure, but you can kinda see why some fans felt cheated out of what could have been a two generations of high flyers have a match for the ages.

Naturally when the two met once more in the main event of TNA’s the 1000th episode on AXS TV, the rematch needed to be deliver…long story short: They did.

From Rush’s attack on Sabin to the outside which was a nice callback to Slammiversary bout to both men relentlessly pushing each other to the limit to Sabin using Kushida and Alex Shelley’s finishers to weaking Lio before finishing it all off with the Cradle Shock, a three count and just like that Chris Sabin becomes a ten time X Division Champion.

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