Before I begin I have to admit that over all I am not a big TNA fan. But I do try to look at things fairly and I am in no way against TNA. I feel that TNA has an amazing atmosphere of Wrestlemania-like excitement to it and at times it delivers great moments and matches. But the majority of the time I feel that it is all hype with subpar wrestling. Hopefully Bound For Glory will live up to the hype, as this is TNA’s biggest event of the year.
Lance Hoyt vs. Monty Brown
I hope that this match isn’t given much time because it makes no sense and will only weaken the card if it isn’t impactful and over with as soon as possible. Instead of giving Raven a solid match after just coming out of a Heavyweight Title reign they decide to put Monty Brown in a match with someone he isn’t even in a heated feud with. I REALLY hate Monty Brown for his childish attempt at a gimmick and cheesy antics. I don’t care about Lance Hoyt one way or the other so I really don’t care who wins or comes out looking better. But Monty Brown should be built up more if he is going to continue into another face run and (God help us all) become a heavyweight champion in the near future. This match should be a hard hitting, quick brawl that makes Monty look like he truly worked to defeated the 6’9″ Lance Hoyt.
Winner: Monty Brown
Simon Diamond, Elix Skipper, and Young vs. Apolo, Sonny Siaki, and Shark Boy
Isn’t there some rule where you have to actually be on television in recent weeks to get a spot on a Pay-Per-View? Sonny Siaki and Young are the only ones who comes to mind as being on IMPACT recently (I missed last week’s Impact). This match might deliver but I doubt it. I fully expect this to be a spotfest where at least one of the wrestlers barely even tags in, if at all. This is going to be a mess and nothing will be accomplished by the end. I suppose the Diamonds in the Rough will win to build up their status.
Winners: Diamonds in the Rough
Sonjay Dutt vs. Austin Aries vs. Alex Shelley vs. Roderick Strong
Hmm..this might actually be a decent match. I think that Austin Aries will be able to balance out the match and keep everyone working steady. I think Alex Shelley could very well botch the match with his obvliviousness to the cameras and the audience that are right in front of him. Roderick Strong tends to be more grounded from what I’ve seen so I think between he and Austin Aries the match could be worked very well if given proper time to develop. Triple threats and fatal four ways are always hard to book because it’s like balancing plates, trying to keep each man involved. If this match doesn’t get too spotty it might be very memorable. I have no doubt that Sonjay Dutt and Austin Aries will both pull off some good moves, but I hope they don’t do it too often. I think Austin Aries will come out on top because he seems to the one out of the four that TNA is most focused on at present time.
Winner: Austin Aries
Samoa Joe vs. Jushin Liger
It has been said that Liger’s victory in this match is inevitable because he wouldn’t sign on for one match and travel across the world just to job to Samoa Joe. Even if that’s true, it won’t stop this match from being a classic. I am a big fan of Joe’s work and have seen enough of Liger’s work to believe that they can come together to steal the show. Expect lots of counters from Liger and a lot of hard hitting and fast shots for Joe. With Joe being a big and solid guy there is enough contrast here to make it interesting but we all know that he doesn’t stay grounded and he can match counters and big maneuvers with Liger. I hope that this match is given a lot of time to develop and climax. I fully expect to this match on many fans’ top ten of the year lists after this Sunday.
Winner: Jushin Liger
Tag Team Championship Rematch
AMW(c) vs. The Naturals
I felt that their match on IMPACT! was a little sloppy and they stalled too much but overall it was pretty good. It looks like TNA is setting a pattern here for Bound For Glory. It has all of its most recognized champions in place (Jarrett, Styles, and AMW). This match should serve to build heat for AMW’s feud with Team 3-D and it would be plain stupid if Ray and Devon didn’t get involved in this match somehow. It’s a shame though that The Naturals are champions but have to job to serve another feud. It seems like it’s for a good cause though.
Winners: AMW
Monster’s Ball 2
Abyss vs. Sabu vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Rhino
I honestly still haven’t seen the original Monster’s Ball match so I’m not quite sure what’s in store here. Between Hardy and Sabu’s high flying, no fear attitude I expect to see some crazy shit and plenty of “Holy Shit!” and “TNA!” chants. Maybe Rhino and Sabu can manage to get some “ECW!” chants from the crowd. Rhino and Abyss can work a very strong style together and create some intense spots. Together all of the men involved can work together to steal the show. Though this match will probably be spotty, with an overdose of high flying moves, I think that it will be purposeful given the theme of the match so it won’t be for nothing. I’m not sure who’s coming out on top but my guess is that with James Mitchell in his corner Abyss is going to the top sooner than later.
Winner: Abyss
The 1 Millionth Ultimate X Match
Matt Bentley vs. Chris Sabin vs. Petey Williams
Even worse than WWE’s over utilization of the Hell In A Cell Match is TNA’s over usage of the Ultimate X Match. Even though they are usually spectacular, the novelty is really on its last wheel and they need to chill out for a while. Nevertheless, Matt Bentley, Petey Williams, and Chris Sabin might be able to pull off something spectacular. All of these men have some great to offer the wrestling world and they’ve proven that when they get it right, they really get it right. Again, this match will be spotty, but it’s the nature of the beast so it’s definitely acceptable and encouraged. This could be a match of the year candidate. I’m not sure who is supposed to get the push here or where these 3 are headed in terms of a feud so my guess is meaningless here. I have a feeling that Chris Sabin is up for a push but it will probably lead to no where either way.
Winner: Chris Sabin
X Division Championship Iron Man Match
AJ Styles(c) vs. Christopher Daniels
AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels are both stellar athletes and have usually had great chemistry together. Their triple threat with Samoa Joe at Unbreakable was my favorite TNA match to date. Although the feud doesn’t particularly interest me because of less than compelling promos and the heat just doesn’t feel like it’s really there, I am sure that they will give it their all in this bout. This match will also probably be spotty (see the pattern?) but this time it won’t be for a good reason. High flying moves every 2 seconds is not what this match necessarily needs. For this match to impress me I’m looking for a lot of mat work which involves countering and singling out of body parts. I want to see some psychology here. One of the things that I love about Christopher Daniels is that he’s usually the fall guy that gets his ass kicked the most and takes the most punishment. He will be able to sell Styles’ offense very well and I’m sure he’ll come back strong with an offense of his own. It’s interesting to me that despite Daniels being the heel he usually gets a ton of crowd support during his bouts with Styles. It leads me to believe that he should be going for the Heavyweight belt, not the X Division belt. I think that Daniels will do most of the hard work here while Styles simply busts out his high flying moves and doesn’t try to tell a story. Hopefully Daniels will get the victory here. As you might be able to tell, Christopher Daniels is my favorite TNA wrestler and one of my favorites over all. I am a fan of AJ Styles’ ability but I don’t think that he’s as well rounded as he should be. I will be looking forward to seeing the Styles Clash, The Spiral Tap (My favorite move this year so far), and someone other fan favorites come Sunday. I’m thinking that this will be the match of the night but will still not live up to their other encounters. It looks like AJ Styles will probably come out of this one clean while Daniels acts as the fall guy once again.
Winner: AJ Styles
TNA Heavyweight Championship Match
Jeff Jarrett vs. Kevin Nash w/ Special Referee Tito Ortiz
This match is absolutely pathetic. This should be Jarrett vs. Raven and I truly think Jarrett shouldn’t even be the champion at all at this point. Bringing in Nash and shoving everyone else on the roster aside is pathetic. I’m not alone on this one either, on TNA’s official website this match was voted second to the least favorite of the matches on the card by the fans. That’s horrible. After Joe/Liger, Monster’s Ball, Ultimate X, and Styles/Daniels in an Iron Man Match, it comes down to this? I expect NOTHING from this match and that is why I just might enjoy it a tiny bit. Bringing in Tito Ortiz has done NOTHING for this match at all. Having him go over Nash, the face, and take him down with a submission hold was absurd and retarded. It made Nash look weak when the heel should be the weak coward. Maybe the only thing to save this match from being a total failure will exciting interference from AMW and Team 3-D. But that will probably just lead to a rematch which evidently NO ONE wants to see. The biggest card of the year for TNA and they put this senseless match together? This only shits on all the time, effort, and contributions that Raven, Christopher Daniels, Abyss, and others have made throughout TNA’s history. Hopefully the other matches will not disappoint. (I just read that Kevin Nash went to the emergency room shortly before the fanfest began on Saturday. I’m sure he’ll either miss the show or won’t be able to compete for long so there goes the main event. Best of luck to Nash with whatever is making him sick though.)
Winner: Jeff Jarrett (or God help us all once more)
Over all TNA’s Bound For Glory has an amazing amount of potential to stride past anything done in TNA’s history. But it could also be set up for immense failure if the booking is done wrong and too much attention is focused in the wrong places. If all goes well this could send TNA into true competition with WWE. With TNA getting a two hour special on a Thursday in November and another big special in February, Spike TV may be lining TNA up for battle sooner than we previously thought. Plenty of wrestlers who are scheduled for Bound For Glory weren’t even on IMPACT! which is utterly ridiculous but the icing on the cake was when there was less than a minute left in the broadcast and the face of the main event for BFG just started to come out and climb into the ring as the cameras went off the air. It’s quite pathetic that the supposed star of the show doesn’t even make an appearance until the very end. IMPACT! did serve to hype up Bound For Glory to a certain degree and I ddin’t have to many complaints about the show. I actually loved the back and forth brawl that was the main event. It was perfect for setting up a Super Card. I have high hopes for Bound For Glory and TNA in general, so hopefully not even Hurricane Wilma can stop this one from going down in wrestling history as a great Super Card
By the way, who the f*** is that African dude who appears in the Bound For Glory promo video? Since when does the narrator get a camera spot? I think Monty Brown is trying to steal his gimmick. Although if they aired video footage of me getting tackled in the NFL as my best moments I would be desperate too I suppose.
-Mike Steele
twvmikesteele@thewrestlingvoice.com
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