TNA World Heavyweight Championship
Eleven days later, Anderson defeated Kurt Angle and Rob Van Dam in a three-way match to earn a rematch for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Anderson was looking to get his title match on the following edition of "Impact!", but it was instead given to the returning Sting, who defeated Hardy to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On the March 10 edition of "Impact!", Anderson attacked Sting backstage, claiming that he had been screwed out of his title match. In the main event of that show, Anderson teamed with Jeff Hardy against Rob Van Dam and Sting. During the match, Anderson took on the role of a tweener by turning on Hardy before being pinned by Van Dam. On April 17 at Lockdown, Anderson failed in his attempt to regain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Sting in a three-way steel cage match which also included Van Dam. On May 12, Anderson defeated 24 other men in a battle royal to earn a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Slammiversary IX. In the weeks leading up to Slammiversary, Anderson tried to get under Sting's skin by dressing up like he did in the early 1990s during his "surfer" gimmick, attacking Disco Inferno during his own "Scorpion Sitdown" interview segment, and wrestling Eric Young, who was dressed as The Great Muta.