10 Ups & 1 Down From Impact Wrestling Slammiversary XVI

6. A Masterclass In Pacing

While WWE pay-per-views often feel like they've been thrown together with no consideration for how they'll flow, leading to long, laborious periods that kill the crowd and leave their shows' three-to-four hours feeling like double that, Impact nailed Slammiversary's pacing.

The PPV opened with a white-hot, action-packed opener to completely hook the audience from the first minute (contrast with Extreme Rules, which began with the insomnia-curing B-Team vs. Deleters of Worlds clash). Things slowed down from there, with Impact running through four medium-stakes bouts in succession, none of which were designed to steal the spotlight. Then, we entered the top-loaded closing stretch. The LAX civil war, Pentagon vs. Callihan, and Aries vs. Moose took Slammiversary home in breathtaking fashion, ensuring the pay-per-view peaked at precisely the right stage: as it was coming to a close.

This is how you put a wrestling show together. It shouldn't be difficult, but it's something WWE consistently fail at, and a huge reason why Slammiversary felt so watchable compared to Stamford's joyless slogs.