Welcome back to ringside everyone. I hope everyone enjoyed Bound For Glory as much as I did and I hope everyone is ready for the TNA Primetime Special. The damn internet connection screwed my computer up for a couple of days and that is the reason for the lateness this week. Everything is working now and so away we go.
Impact and Bound For Glory Recaps
Three great ways to go this week as you can check you My Report on Impact, The NeelDown on Impact, or PK’s Bound For Glory Coverage.
Bound For Glory Review-The Holy Shit Edition
So Bound For Glory came and went and it seemed like every match had a moment that made me stop and say to myself “Holy Shit.”
Roderick Strong vs. Austin Aries vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Alex Shelley: This was a very hot pre show opener. I did miss the first bit of it because my stupid cable company took 5 hours (ok, so it was 20 minutes) to process my order. Still, it was a good match that got the crowd into the PPV and ready for a big night. I would have liked to see this match on the PPV and the 6 Man Tag moved to the pre-show but what’s done is done.
Holy Shit Moment: 4 Way Submission
Samoa Joe vs. Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger : This match was way to short for anything good to come out of it. It didn’t really have a huge spot but it was another nice match to get the crowd into it. It was a good match given the time constraints but if they were given more time, it could have been a dark horse Match Of The Year.
Holy Shit Moment: The Entrances
Diamonds in the Rough vs. Apolo, Sonny Siaki & Shark Boy : A pretty decent 6 Man Tag match here. I don’t think the TNA Crowd really gives a shit about Siaki or Apolo which is not a good sign for either man. I’m glad Skipper and Company went over as TNA needs to establish them as a buyable stable rather than a bunch of people that get squashed every week by throw together teams.
Holy Shit Moment: Skipper’s Step Up Enzuguri
Monty Brown vs. Lance Hoyt : Over the past few PPV’s I have come to the realization that Lance Hoyt is good in the ring. He put on another good match with Monty Brown in this one. Brown of course went over and that was the right move as Hoyt was going to lose no popularity by losing. Brown continues to look like a man on a mission and a unstoppable one at that.
Holy Shit Moment: Hoyt’s Moonsault
Eric Young, A1, and Bobby Roode (w/ Scott D’Amore) vs. BG James, Konnan, and Ron Killings : I was actually into this match a bit. It had a very intriguing storyline with Kip James and 3LK. The match itself wasn’t a 5 star classic or anything but I think the whole point of the match was to advance (and more or less end) the whole Kip James/3LK saga. Anyone catch Kip’s shirt? “I’m Kip James Bitch.” How could would it be if in the middle of the match Kip stands the guy up and asks him “What did the 5 fingers say to the face?” and the slap him. I would mark out so hard.
Holy Shit Moment: Kip Turns On Canada
Chris Sabin vs. Matt Bently (w/ Traci) vs. Petey Williams (w/ Scott D’Amore) – Ultimate X Match : This match came in with high expectations and for reasons beyond the control of the wrestlers it was cut short and was a disappointment. The match had some cool spots but nobody will remember them as we will all remember that the X fell (twice) and it wasn’t supposed to happen like that. After it fell the first time, you just had the feeling that it would fall again, and it did. I understand why Bentley, Sabin and Williams were upset but they could have handled it better. Petey should have celebrated like he was the greatest wrestler ever while Sabin and Bentley should have killed the ref for letting it end like it did. There is a silver lining to all this though, on the Thursday Night PrimeTime special, we get to see a rematch. Hopefully TNA goes to great lengths to make sure that the match ends properly.
Holy Shit Moment: The X Falling…Twice.
America’s Most Wanted (w/ Gail Kim) (c) vs. The Naturals : This was a good tag team match I thought. The only problem I had with it is that we had just seen the same match the night before. Couldn’t TNA have held off the title switch until the PPV? Who knows, maybe they wanted to give Impact the feel of “Hey look, titles switch hands on regular shows in our company.” I hope the Naturals have something to move on to now since AMW is moving on to Team 3-D.
Holy Shit Moment: Death Sentance On AMW
Rhino vs. Abyss (w/ James Mitchell) vs. Sabu vs. Jeff Hardy – Monsters Ball: Boy did these 4 men pull out all the stops or what? We knew that this would be a brawl and they didn’t disappoint. There were two pretty big spots here that I thought were awesome. First, Hardy’s Swanton Bomb off the stage onto Abyss. Hardy gets a lot of slack for being a spot monkey but damned if he doesn’t put his body on the line. Second, Rhino’s Sit Out Piledriver. You didn’t see him do that in WWE now did you? Rhino going over was fine with me, I had no clue it would lead to bigger things.
Holy Shit Moment: Hardy’s Swanton Bomb
AJ Styles (c) vs. Christopher Daniels – Iron Man Match – X Division Title:Better than the 1st one? Yes sir. AJ and Daniels showed everyone why they are two of the best in the U.S. Words can’t describe the match just watch it.
Holy Shit Moment: The Entire Match Ruled
10 Man Gauntlet for the #1 Contender: Wow, TNA had to do some quick booking and that they did. The thing that made this match good and successful is the fact that TNA put 10 of their best workers in the match. You didn’t find a jobber in this one. This could have been better if everyone has healthy but guys like AJ, Abyss, Hardy, Sabu, and Rhino were burnt out.
Holy Shit Moment:Rhino Gores Abyss
Jeff Jarrett (c) vs. Rhino – NWA Title: I thought Jarrett was going to win this with ease but TNA swerved us by having Rhino when the World Title. This match was of course very over-booked but hey, it was a Jeff Jarrett title defense. Team 3-D returning at the end was cool and the whole thing with the casket was fitting.
Holy Shit Moment: Rhino Wins
So all in all I thought that Bound For Glory was a good PPV. Not a great PPV and not the huge PPV event that TNA promised and expected but really everything that went wrong was out of their control so you can’t fault them too much.
What Could Have Been Better?
So while I thought TNA did a good job with the PPV, damned if they couldn’t have made it awesome. Before I start, let me say that I know TNA couldn’t help most of what went wrong and everything I’m about to say probably couldn’t have happened but hey, fantasy booking is always fun.
More Time: Couldn’t they give Joe and Liger some more time? Liger is a X Division legend and Joe is one of the most over workers in TNA. Both can go in the ring and it was a shame to see how little time they got. I hope a re-match is in the works and I hope that TNA lets them go out there and put on a good show. Also, The Ultimate X match could have been longer but the damn X just wouldn’t stay on the ropes.
Better Champion In TNA: I have no beef with Rhino being World Champion. I like Rhino, I thought he was miss-used in WWE, I thought he deserved a bigger push. But TNA could have made a bigger impact with a different worker. AJ Styles could have been a dual champion. I know that no worker has held both the X Division Title and the World Title at the same time. Why not have your best worker, the man who has done everything possible in TNA history, make more history. It would have been a bigger story as well. AJ just survived a 30 minute Iron Man Match, just went through a 10 Man Gauntlet, and then beats Jeff Jarrett for the World Title. That’s history. What about Raven? Think if he came out during the gauntlet, won it, and then just ripped into Jarrett. That would have been a huge moment for the crowd to eat up. Those two would have been better choices in my opinion.
Better Champion Outside Of TNA: Who could TNA bring in to have a huge impact and carry the World Title? Three choices really come to my mind. Brock Lesnar is first on my list. Brock can still wrestle at a high level and everyone knows about his dispute with WWE. Think if TNA brought him in and put the World Title on him on his first night. That would have been a huge mark out moment. Second person that comes to mind is Sting. Now I am a Sting mark and maybe it’s the mark in me that wanted to see Sting come out. Sting hasn’t wrestled since his TNA appearances but he’s been talked about. He’s the one guy that WWE has never had. TNA could have made a statement by bringing Sting in, a statement that would say “We have Sting and he’s our World Champion.” Finally, Chris Jericho. Sure that is my long shot choice but there was speculation of Jericho going to TNA earlier in the year. If Chris Jericho came out in the 10 man gauntlet I probably would have pissed myself. It would have also made a huge statement to WWE. “He left you, for us.”
Heel Or Face?: One of the problems I had with Rhino winning the World Title was the fact that he turned face out of nowhere. To start the night, he was Heel and battling with Raven. To end the night he turns face because he beats Jarrett. I’m not really sure I like Rhino as a face because he never proved to me he was a good face. As a heel, he comes off perfectly. He’s a man beast, ready to kill anyone in his way. As a face, he was a joke with Tajiri. If he can prove to me that he is a good face (Maybe go more towards a tweener) then he earns my full respect as the World Champion.
The End
No C-Cup this week because I’m too tired to think of one. Drop me a line at AMPLine4Life@aol.com and join me next time At Ringside.
