Dave Meltzer Assesses Impact Of WWE Relationship On TNA PPV Numbers

TNA held its biggest North American date in a decade on July 20, as the company presented its annual Slammiversary pay-per-view from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 4,000 people packed into the Verdun Auditorium to see 'Speedball' Mike Bailey win the X-Division Championship, Nic Nemeth win the TNA World Championship, and hometown hero PCO defeat AJ Francis to become the new Digital Media Champion.

While PCO's presence was the driving force behind the strong attendance, as well local wrestlers earning a spot on the pre-show if they convinced people to come, TNA's blossoming relationship with WWE, specifically the "WWE NXT" brand, seemed to have played a big part in the pay-per-view sales. While the only WWE presence on the show was the No Quarter Catch Crew, who were defeated by The Rascalz (who reunited with WWE's Wes Lee for the event), according to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Slammiversary's TV pay-per-view numbers were up almost 400% from the Rebellion event in April that got around 450 buys, while Slammiversary's first figure is around the 2,200 mark.

These figures aren't including streaming numbers, as those aren't available yet, but Meltzer noted that TNA claimed Slammiversary's pay-per-view numbers beat the Hard to Kill event in January, which was not only the big re-branding show for the company, but also the biggest financial success TNA had seen in years. Meltzer rounded off by saying that Slammiversary's buyrate is technically down from Hard to Kill's on pure TV buys, but he thinks TNA should see it as a big win considering how successful Hard to Kill was in the first place. TNA's next chance to break company records on pay-per-view looks set to be the annual Bound for Glory event, which will take place in October on a date not yet announced.