Background: The annually held King of the Mountain match featuring defending TNA World Heavyweight champion Mick Foley defending against Jeff Jarrett, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Kurt Angle. The KOTM involved five competitors fighting to gain a pin fall or submission to be allowed to climb a ladder and hang a championship belt above the ring to win with those taking the fall having to spend time in a penalty box.
Slammiversary
Detroit, MI
June 21, 2009
Mick Foley vs. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle
Each man got a long entrance, promo video, and a boxing style in-ring introduction, adding a nice touch of big fight air. Joe decided to jump Angle before the bell right after Foley’s intro. Oh, and Joe put on a Detroit Red Wings jersey to counter Angle’s Pittsburgh Penguins attire. When they got Joe off of Angle, the referees told Joe he has to start off in the penalty box, and Angle is eligible. Jarrett decided to take advantage of Joe’s actions, getting AJ to help him beat down Angle. High/low/dropkick combo on Angle by AJ. AJ and Jeff tried to pin Angle, but nothing was working. During all of this, Mick stood on one of the ladders to survey the land. Double suplex, and a double back elbow on Angle before Jeff told Foley to come in and help. Joe came out of the box as Angle knocked AJ to the floor, and Jarrett fell on top of Foley. Mick jumped into the penalty box after willing giving Jeff a pin fall to make Jarrett eligible.
AJ and Kurt fought on the floor as Joe used an enzuguri on Jarrett in the corner. Styles ran in, only to duck Joe’s clothesline before baseball sliding Kurt into the guardrails. Inverted atomic drop/running big boot-senton splash combo by Joe on Jeff got Joe a near fall. Joe decided to just lean on Jeff’s throat to the chant of his name. Kurt slipped in, attacking Joe as Foley came in. Foley ran into a couple of discus forearms from Joe. Joe used the Coquina Clutch, choking out Foley to become eligible.
On the floor, Kurt whipped Jeff into the crowd. Joe used the ladder Kurt pushed in, driving the top of it against Jeff and Kurt’s faces. A dazed Foley sat against the penalty box in a daze as Joe suplexed Kurt across the ladder. Jeff punched Joe before setting up the ladder for a whip. Instead, Jeff’s back met the ladder. Joe set up the ladder for the first ascent of the match. Foley stumbled out of the box, stopping Joe by pushing the ladder from underneath him. Joe landed on the downed ladder, bending it horribly. AJ popped Foley in the face, but got tossed out. Foley whipped Joe into the ladder. When Foley tried to rush Joe, Samoa Joe hip tossed Foley into the ladder. Jeff got up, tossing the busted ladder on top of Angle before grabbing another. Kurt stopped Jeff’s climb with a low blow. AJ flipped out of the Angle’s German suplex when Angle got a hold of him, but not the northern lights suplex that sent Styles back first against the ladder. Angle spun around, preventing Jeff from crowning him with the guitar. Jeff fought back, only to get Ankle Locked. Jeff kicked Angle away before breaking the guitar on the top of Kurt’s head. Jeff was going up the ladder when Foley rose. Foley caught up with Jeff on the opposite side, asking for the belt. Jeff refused, leading to fist fight on the ladder. AJ sprung off the top rope, dropkicking both men off. The ladder tumbled over as AJ hit the mat, landing on Styles to a groan from the crowd. Joe told AJ to get up so he and Styles could keep both men down. Joe grabbed the ladder as Mick climbed on top of the penalty box. Styles scaled up with the champion. AJ stopped Foley’s attempt suplex on him. AJ wanted to toss Mick through the announce table, but Foley turned the tables, sending Styles some ten feet into the ring.
On the other side, Jarrett used the Stroke to send Joe’s face into a ladder. Angle Slam on Jarrett leaves Angle wide open for Foley, who dove off the box, dropping the big elbow. Foley covered Angle, forcing him into the penalty box again. Mr. Socko is out. AJ grabbed the Legends belt as Mick started to climb the ladder. Using his belt, AJ cracked Mick in the back before Pele kicking Mick off the ladder. Joe and AJ were peppering Foley, ending with another Pele to send Mick out. Joe tossed AJ over the top rope, causing Styles to somersault plancha Foley. Joe turned around, getting battering rammed by Jeff and a ladder. Angle was released from the box, but was too hurt to quickly leave. Jeff was almost about to hang the belt when AJ made it up on the other side. Angle caught Jeff, only to get DDT’ed. AJ isn’t eligible, nor does he have the belt. Joe got up, knocking the belt out of AJ’s grasp after Styles retrieved the gold. Joe propelled off the ropes, running into a dropkick from Styles. Foley was able to make it out of the box when everyone was laid out. Foley grabbed the belt, cracking AJ in the face. Joe ran across the ring, dropkicking the belt into Foley’s face, sending Mick to the floor beside Jeff.
Jeff and Foley were going toe to toe on the floor as Joe made it up the ladder. Before Joe could hook it, AJ grabbed Joe’s boots. Joe fell down, bringing the fans up as they thought AJ had this won. Joe and Jeff stopped it. AJ reversed the whip, sending Joe through the ropes, who used a flying forearm to deck Jeff and Foley. Styles Clash on Angle once again made the fans rise. Right before AJ could win, Joe power bombed AJ. Joe scaled the ladder, only to be met by Kurt on the other side. Joe feigned a belt swing toward Angle’s head. Instead, Joe handed the belt to Kurt Angle! Angle hooked the belt to become the new TNA World champion.
Winner: Kurt Angle (22:04)
Is It A Classic: And we make it to the main event. There was no way that the main eventers could match the athleticism of the X Division KotM that happened at the top of the show, and they knew that. They immediately thrust us into the action with Joe attacking Angle before the match. How that would play into the finish would be exponent ional. Before we got to the finale, we had an incredible brawl peppered with sick spots. Even Mick Foley proved he was still crazy by dropping the big elbow off the penalty box in probably the highlight highspot of the match. Now, TNA was known for a lot of things, and predictable swerves are one of those things. Joe aligning with Angle is not one of those swerves. They really pulled a shocker out of their bag, and it wasn’t a bad one at all. Good action, interesting twist, and a new champion was crowned that wasn’t completely limited.
