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00:00there's a moment right after the final bell rings when the noise dies and the silence sets in
00:13no entrance music
00:18just the truth
00:23your heartbeat your regrets and the weight of what you gave and what you lost
00:38on july 20th at ubs arena in new york a statement was made
00:45and when a statement's made in this city the world listens
00:53slam-a-versary wasn't just the biggest night in tna wrestling history it was a collective mission
01:01to earn back everything this brand has fought for
01:06a night where men and women came together to deliver an event for the ages a show that didn't
01:20just honor the past it propelled this storied company forward reminding the world that tna
01:28wrestling never left the fans have spoken the world took notice and now we look back at the night
01:41that will define the future of a company
01:43this is where the show ends
01:50and the truth begins
01:55tna wrestling proudly presents slam-a-versary
02:03fade to black
02:07the momentum that this company has in the past two years
02:15can't be questioned and for us to make a statement tonight especially with slam-a-versary
02:22i feel that's what this event tonight is all about
02:25what does this night mean to you personally
02:27company was founded on people looking for another chance in one degree or another
02:36and i see so many people here that are pulling in the same direction
02:42and they want this to be great
02:46we are chasing an attendance number today as we said and everyone's a part of that which
02:52means make sure that you are getting your tickets scanned
02:55this is all full people
02:57we have the talk of the wrestling business today
03:01this day is owned for us and last week it was everybody else but this is ours and that's
03:08all a tribute to the hard work of each and every one of you give yourselves a round of applause
03:14when i joined in january we targeted tonight as everything that we would start doing as
03:22we would build all of this together and you know we went to la together and we kicked ass in la
03:28and now we're in new york city in a brand new arena
03:33championship banners on the ceiling from other teams that play here
03:37because everyone here are champions and tonight we're going to set history for tna
03:42we're going to sell it out the place is going to be rocking
03:46and it's because of everything you all do in the ring
03:48so thank you again for making it happen
03:52we're showing you tonight why
03:54why we've been digging this up for the past couple of years
03:56why we've been saying the things we've been saying why we've been growing
03:59we're going to pay that all off and because you have to you have to deliver
04:02and if i know anything about any of these people any of this team
04:06we are going to deliver
04:08i've been very uh open and honest about like my story and what i've been through to get here
04:14and the fact that i went from staring out a window in a rehab
04:19to um
04:23to being in a main event
04:30in front of all the people that have backed me since day one
04:37my father
04:39my little girl my family my city my culture
04:42yo we out here mike santana bring it back baby let's go
04:47tonight it's a thank you to them
04:49look you like to try to set realistic goals and then some a little bit of stretch goals
04:54i mean look i i probably stretched a little bit back you know three or four or five months ago but
04:59that's okay like everybody rallied the team rallied everyone was hunkered down over these last two
05:05weeks doing great media pushing tickets creating packages bringing in vips and you know what now
05:12all we've done as a team is set it up for our wrestlers and our wrestlers now can do what they
05:16do best which is you know really do incredible stuff in the ring i'm just all about trying to
05:22contribute as much to the business as i possibly can so for me to be in the main event of slam
05:27anniversary the biggest u.s attendance of all time it's surreal because i remember you know rushing
05:32home from school when i was you know 14 15 or whatever to watch tna in 2002 2003 you know aj's
05:40right over there um and he was like the first person in tna that i kind of connected with as a
05:45fan so for me to be in the main event it's you have to take a second every so often because you get
05:50caught in the hustle and bustle of doing this job and you're just right what's next what's next you
05:55want to do the job to the best of your ability but you have to also try and be a little bit of
06:01a fan again and appreciate how awesome this moment is the resurgence has gotten so massive so huge
06:07that we are on this level we are in ubs we're in a huge stadium and we have a huge crowd out here and
06:12it's something that i think tna is deserving of because everybody on this roster from top to bottom
06:17has been busting their ass and they have been working for the greater good of tna and this is a great
06:21example of it tonight right now we're about to wrestle in ubs arena for almost 8 000 people one
06:28of the biggest shows in tna history and when i look back at my career at tna people seem to forget
06:34at one point we were wrestling at breweries in front of 40 people we're wrestling at scranton mall
06:39when i was world champion for this company i wrestled at the scranton pennsylvania mall
06:44in front of 45 people to go from that pretty much selling out ubs arena is unheard
06:55if we don't deliver everyone goes yeah that was cool it was fun to root for tna i guess they'll
07:02still be around that's fine but i know what's gonna happen tonight we got everybody here on the hard
07:08work we deliver in the ring and when we do this is the genuine starting point of something special
07:15this is the beginning i know it's weird 23 years something like that i've been here for a year and
07:20a half i've watched that growth i know the growth beforehand i know the ups and downs when tonight
07:25delivers this is splattering tna on the map and saying not only are we here this is the best damn place to
07:35be and if you want to be a true wrestling fan you understand that this is it i mean for me personally
07:40i like breaking records i like to win i've been an athlete my whole life i've worked in a lot of
07:45organizations i like we all like to win but winning is is sometimes a single or a double it's not always
07:50a home run but we set our goals and i think it's great for all of us to come together and say hey guess
07:57what now we this was the biggest slammiversary ever it was the biggest show in tna history and i think
08:02everyone can keep that badge that's that's like a mark on the hard work that everyone's done you
08:08know we talk about the family atmosphere here and it's for a reason it's not just everybody in the
08:14locker room it's for our actual families who get to come and hang out my daughters here tonight of
08:20course i work with my wife i'm out there that myers daughters are here moose's son is here we have
08:27rebel frankie's son we have satana's daughter we have these people come here and to be a part of
08:33this because we are a family we all look out for each other we all care for each other because we
08:38get to do something special with our lives and it's amazing to be able to go on this journey with
08:44everybody in this locker room from the boys and girls in the locker room to the office production
08:49everybody includes this is something truly special it's like even when we would be in those uh
08:54smaller arenas and there'd only be a few hundred people in the stands like some of the talent would
08:58talk about like the older days like what would be like and we'd always talk about getting to these
09:02moments getting these moments and that was only a year ago and then fast forward we're here in
09:09in long island ubs arena you can't deny destiny when something is supposed to happen you can't deny it
09:14to me tna wrestling was dead and the people that were here the the nucleus of the people here like we
09:22we had to become the heart because to me i've always said like in 2014 when aj styles left
09:27the person who decided he was going to leave they took the heart of this place when jeff jarrett left
09:32that's the blood so all these things are gone so tna was laying like it was laying there like a dead
09:37body it was like the people are here we had to pick up the pieces and become the heartbeat and become
09:40the blood again we had to kind of re rewrite the culture here and it's still to me it's always it
09:45starts with the man's vision it was it starts with jeff jarrett it starts with him this was his vision
09:50and the people who worked under him i still have a sense of pride of carrying on a vision that he had
09:56and and the people that was before me because we all had a goal man to get this to a certain place
10:01and this is the most people we've ever had we can succeed at the night this is great getting involved
10:07i don't know i haven't kept track someone out there has kept track and i've been a part of all of them
10:12and this year 2025 i mean it is not hyperbole it's not made up this feels like the biggest effort
10:19and just being here and being part of it is makes me pretty proud that energy is a different kind
10:24of energy and as you're walking down the hallways or walk in a locker room you can feel that energy
10:29from all your your teammates your roster mates you know what i'm saying so i'm very excited today is
10:35a pivotal moment in tna history i'm glad i'm gonna be a part of it for the first time in my career
10:41i have felt like i have a home and it's a locker room of guys and girls
10:48who've been told no elsewhere not given an opportunity somewhere else and
10:52but believed in themselves when nobody else believed in them and that's what tna to me has always been
10:56is that it's a place you can grow and show the entire world all that you have within your heart
11:01and that's the one thing that i know that this place brings is the heart and soul to what pro wrestling is
11:08and that i love and i'm i'm so proud to be part of it take a moment and have fun tonight everyone
11:15deserves it you should smile look at the crowd enjoy it and just do what you always do which
11:21is kick ass in the ring thank you so much tonight promises to be phenomenal we are born back ceaselessly
11:30into the past and in our future has never been brighter welcome to one of the biggest events in
11:36tna history tonight we celebrate our slam-a-versary are already on stage music secret service guys
11:45come out he's going to hit the corner and then i'm going to go straight up to the top wait let
12:00him sell and then i'm going to walk backwards straight down the middle of these guys
12:09when mustafa ali and cedric alexander stepped into the ring wrestling can be very lonely sometimes
12:15friendship is like very special to me and cedric is a very special friend and i think the friendship
12:24comes from being in the trenches there were no gimmicks no shortcuts just two world-class athletes
12:34pushing each other to the limit and the most important stages of our career when we first
12:39had our breakout moments you know we're competing on live events and pay-per-views and wrestlemania
12:43for if it was with him in a match that reminded us all what professional wrestling is meant to be
13:04like you go to hell with the guy and somehow it brings you closer and him and i haven't been able
13:09to do that for a very long time i'm just i'm just glad i got i got one more good memory to to think
13:14about it especially with my time here at june there's so much that goes into it there's so
13:22so many emotions but there's so much stuff behind the scenes that people don't know you know what i
13:28mean and i know it's something that's over said that and overused that you know we're like a family
13:33year we have a it's a family atmosphere it truly is here between the boys and girls in the locker room
13:41the people in the front office production everybody that works for this company
13:46we have the same goal and we've had the same goal
13:51for years trying to get to where we are getting to now things are happening right
13:58this is for all the people that have come before us it's not just for everybody that works here it's
14:21for everybody that has always put their blood sweat and tears into this company trying to get this
14:26company to here and finally it's happening because of everybody that has been involved along the way
14:32to go from a time period where you know we didn't know how many people were going to show up to an event
14:40the reason i've been here for as long as i have i believe in what this company is trying to accomplish
14:51to be in front of a crowd like that i felt like they were so behind me
14:55and to go into this match with tessa someone who i have like a lot of real history with and we
15:00haven't talked in six years and the first time we're talking again is we're we're across from each
15:08other in the ring two women with something to prove stepped into the ring but only one could reclaim
15:17the spotlight first of all to be out there by myself was quite a different feeling i've been in tag teams
15:36in groups like most of my career and i'm gonna cry to be out there like tna's biggest pay-per-view
15:47with them chanting for me like it meant so much i don't know if you've seen these old photos of me
15:54from when i was 15 16 like holding out all these plastic belts but i used to work at toys r us and i
16:01used to buy the plastic to enable so man my mission is to turn one of the plastic belts into the real
16:07thing i want to be the knockouts champion when masha slamovich and jc jane came face to face it wasn't
16:18just champion versus champion it was brand versus brand pride versus pride
16:30jane dragging slamovich the cover oh my god
16:39here is your winner
16:41two worlds collided under one spotlight this wasn't just a title match it was a warning shot
16:52fired straight at the heart of the industry i'm kind of speechless like i can't believe i just made
17:00history uh there was a time that i didn't believe in myself i never thought i would be here hard work
17:06pays off you stay the course you put in the work and anything is possible and now i'm a double champ
17:14baby i feel like i'm living my dreams every day sometimes i wake up and i can't believe that i'm
17:21living this life i feel like tonight it was validation for everything that i've done everything that i've
17:28worked for has brought me to this moment and i couldn't be more proud to be a part of this night
17:34this division it's a lot of pressure for sure because not only am i representing the entire
17:39nxt women's division but now i get to represent the entire tna women's division so it's a lot of
17:45pressure but i'm ready for it i'm ready to knock it out of the park i'm ready to continue to prove
17:50people wrong and show them that i have so much more to give than what people think i do
17:55i'm going against a kid who's pretty much destined to be the the new face of the company at some point
18:03in his career and leon slater he has an opportunity right now to being the youngest exhibition champion
18:09in the company's history i have an opportunity of beating him and being the longest reigning
18:15exhibition champion the company's history so tonight's an awesome night man um there's one of those nights
18:20that you'll remember for a very long time this match paired the veteran against the prodigy
18:28one fighting to protect the legacy the other to carve out his own
18:35oh you gotta be kidding me
18:40a tribute to one of his mentors jeff harley and now following up
18:44i just won the actual exhibition championship i'm the youngest to ever do it and actual aj styles
19:02came out and shook my hand and put me over in a promo afterwards so i don't know if that's ever
19:07going to feel real so right now like i'm trying to process everything but because i'm trying to
19:12process everything there's really there's really nothing that's going through i'm just trying to
19:15live in a moment wait a second
19:29he was the standard the original cornerstone
19:50the name that helped define what tna wrestling could be
19:53and tonight the phenomenal aj styles came home not as a visitor but as a legacy fulfilled
20:08we always dreamed of this day
20:11i am the phenomenal aj styles
20:28leon slater
20:32the youngest ex-division champion in tna history let that sing
20:39you made me realize why i love this business it's guys like you who make people like me
20:50love what they do the crowd means a hell of a lot they're the reason why we're here right
20:56i don't even want to say like i work hard for the respect of the locker room you know what i'm saying
21:01but it's something i strive after a lot and it's something i care about very very deeply so it almost
21:06means a little more to me that everyone took time out of their busy day on the biggest show of the
21:10year to come and watch me do my thing and not only that but they were cheering me on just as loud as
21:15the as the crowd was you know so we have a very special locker room here and i'm glad i'm so glad to
21:21be a part of it i'm so glad that i'm playing a bigger part in it than i was before you know what i'm
21:26saying it really is a family here and i love them all and i would say that the x division is in
21:34phenomenal hands my friends ladies and gentlemen the new tna ex-division champion leon slater
21:48it's the first time that my sister and my girlfriend have been to america it's definitely
21:56the first time that all three of them have watched me in a show of this of this magnitude by far to
22:01have them all there as i as the bell rung and the three hit them out and i was that i realized i won
22:09it's difficult to put into words man like that is fairy tale stuff like actual if you wrote it in a book
22:14people wouldn't believe it because it's too good to be true
22:28it's a time where they forgot where they the came from and by by no means is the same people
22:45that only today they wanted to be something different than rather than something who we were
22:50you know and at the end of the day it cost them and if we just stayed on the path man who knows where
22:58we would be right now and so it's different but i'm glad to see that now everybody's pulling for
23:03that was the first time in a long time i've seen the whole company watching the same match because
23:09they were so interested in what's going to happen that's awesome they're pulling for each other you
23:14want that you don't have to worry about people stabbing each other in the back to get to the top
23:18no no no they want you to be there they want to see everybody there they want to see everybody
23:22have a great match that's how you become a successful company that's what it takes as long
23:29as that's available and ready and people can see it then tna's gonna grow
23:44the fight was a perfect night for me uh it was an opportunity for me to come and see the fans
23:56face to face something i haven't done in a really long time and wwe said yeah sure go do that
24:04you don't see that every day so the opportunity just to come and visit and share some time with
24:10them was it's pretty amazing man i hope there's something special as far as a match goes but i
24:15can't promise that i can't promise you tomorrow what's going to happen to me i can tell you this
24:20i was very excited even i had the butterflies tonight you know the one thing that stood out
24:25me the most they said how kind you are and how respectful you are bro that will take you anywhere
24:32you want to go yes sir and anything that you want to do yes sir so all you have to do is remain who
24:37you are and don't forget where you came from yes sir yes you're doing fun man absolutely freaking
24:41you're the freaking youngest tnh ever they're doing something right keep doing that yes sir yes sir thank
24:48you so much people were excited to see aj style the same guy that they saw how many years ago i don't
24:53even know but it was over a decade now to come back and be in that ring it's it's special dude it's always
24:59going to be so it's special it's like you're the first girl you've ever loved right like she's always
25:04going to be special to you this was my first love i would have been here forever had things not went
25:10the way that it did but things needed to go the way that they should because i brought where god
25:16wanted me tonight so i'm very blessed very thankful to be able to come here tonight and uh leon is a
25:22special kid man enjoy him he's uh he's he's different man and he's incredible he's way more talented
25:30than most of us could ever be um and i wish him nothing but the best this is just the start
25:35of a amazing career for him ladders don't just elevate bodies they elevate legacy four teams stepped
25:47into chaos only one climbed out with the crown can jeff hardy now use this ingenious and twisted idea
26:06to climb once again to tag team glory this wasn't just about tag team gold it was about survival
26:26in a division on fire to become four-time tna world tag team champions at this massive show uh
26:36record gate record number of attendance and for us to kind of be two of the guys that are in the in
26:41the vanguard leading tna into the future it feels great and we take a lot of pride in tna we take a
26:47lot of pride in what we do when we go to that ring and how hard we bust our ass to to make matches
26:52great and to put smiles on faces and happiness and hearts and i think tonight by becoming the four
26:57time tna world tag team champion we did exactly that
27:11oh my god allow me to be the first to congratulate you on
27:20another world tag team championship 25 years ago the hardys and the dudleys
27:36made history in new york and we stole the mama trucking show this is about something special this is about
27:46something that can never ever happen again october bound for glory hardys team 3d one last match
28:02slam-a-versary has always been one of tna's biggest events
28:06the hardys chasing glory and trying to top team 3d the dudley boys as the most decorated tag team of
28:16all time they won it again tonight congratulations hardys are we gonna see it one more time it's not
28:23about me wanting it it's not about devon wanted it's not about matt and jeff wanted it's about wrestling
28:28fans wanting it and we're gonna give them what they want the last great tag team rivalry the most
28:35iconic tag team rivalry of our generation one last time in the middle of a ring
28:43if you're in this business you understand we live for that rush we live for that pop
28:49just everything that i've been through and everything that got me to that point that's
28:53usually what i do before my music hits i'm just reflecting on everything that i went through
28:57to get to where i'm at and the fact that i'm still blessed enough to do this job and to
29:02be a part of professional wrestling when i walked out i heard that roar and got that rush from the crowd
29:09it was almost like all those people there was seeing one of their own make it and have that moment
29:16it when trick williams stepped into enemy territory
29:24he didn't come to visit he came to conquer
29:28the tna's best and brightest going at it spin the block but santana not done spin the block the
29:38stb one more time
29:40what went wrong
29:53You, Martina, World Champion,
29:59Tripp, well done!
30:06What went wrong?
30:08I lost.
30:09In front of all the people that got me there.
30:13So a big part of me feels like I let everyone down.
30:16And most of all, aside from everyone else, you know,
30:23I had to deal with looking across the ring and looking in that front row
30:27and seeing my baby girl, you know, the tears in my arms.
30:30And what you need to know, we broke the record.
30:337,600 people came to see Trichinate.
30:367,600 people came to see me retain this house.
30:40Don't ask them more questions if I'm ready, if I've arrived.
30:43Look what I've done for your brand.
30:44Look what I've done for your company.
30:46It's Trichinate, let's talk about it, bitch.
30:49I've said this a hundred times.
30:51God has blessed me with an ability to suffer,
30:54to use that suffering to motivate me to push forward.
30:57So this is another one of those instances.
31:03Tonight wasn't just about wrestling.
31:09It was about moments.
31:12The kind that hit your chest and don't let go.
31:22We saw legends return.
31:25We saw new names rise.
31:28We saw these men and women risk everything.
31:31For a company that's been their home.
31:35Their proving ground.
31:38Their lifeline.
31:40This wasn't just a show.
31:45What you were trying to do-
31:47What you heard.
31:48What you felt.
31:50Was real.
31:52Every voice in the crowd.
31:55Every tear backstage.
31:57Every tear backstage, this night meant something, to them, to us, to the future.
32:11This is TNA Wrestling, and this was the night we reminded the world exactly who we are.
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