Bound For Glory 2006 (2014 Redo): It Should Have Been Joe
Bound For Glory 2006
Date: October 22, 2006
Location: Compuware Sports Arena, Plymouth Township, Michigan
Attendance: 3,600
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West
Things are starting to pick up for TNA and this is one of their hottest periods ever. The main story is the biggest acquisition in TNA’s history: Kurt Angle signed with the company and will be the guest referee for the main event of Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett, title vs. career. We’ll get to why that’s a questionable choice later. Let’s get to it.
The opening video is about following your dreams and talks about Henry Ford in Detroit. It goes on too long like most TNA PPV openings.
Kevin Nash Open Invitational X-Division Gauntlet Battle Royal
This is a hard one to explain. Basically Kevin Nash went into one of the funniest but most bizarre stretches I’ve ever seen where he decided he wanted to market the X-Division and talked about being an X-Division legend. He also referenced Bob Backlund about a million times and none of it made any sense but Nash sold the heck out of it and the whole thing was hilarious. Anyway this is a sixteen man gauntlet match with a new entrant every sixty seconds and the final two will have a one on one match.
Nash comes out with a bowling trophy for the winner and does commentary. Austin Starr (Aries) is #1 and Sonjay Dutt is #2 to get us going with Aries working on a headlock until Dutt headscissors him down. That goes nowhere so Maverick Matt (Bentley) comes in at #3. A double back elbow drops Dutt and Starr drops an elbow for good measure. Dutt clotheslines them both down and Jay Lethal is in at #4.
Jay nails the villains and helps his buddy Dutt double team Bentley. Austin finally nails him with a back elbow out of the corner and Matt belly to bellies Dutt down. A-1, not really an X-Division guy though there wasn’t a weight limit at this point, is in at #5. He runs over everyone but doesn’t eliminate anybody until one legged Zack Gowen is in at #6. Gowen does his dropkick and moonsault to Matt but Austin runs him over.
Kazarian is in at #7 as the ring is starting to fill up. Kaz puts Sonjay up and joins forces with former partner Bentley. Everyone is bunched up in one side of the ring until Sirelda (a Chyna knockoff) is in at #8. She powerslams Kaz down and goes back and forth with Starr until a low blow slows her down. A clothesline puts her out and Kaz dumps A-1 a second later. Shark Boy is in at #9 and starts biting Starr as the fans are WAY into Sharky.
Alex Shelley, Kevin Nash’s favorite to win, is in at #10. Shelley cleans house until D-Ray 3000 is in at #11. He’s a 70s character with a bad afro who never went anywhere. Shark Boy grabs him for the old Bushwhackers Battering Ram and dumps Bentley. Johnny Devine is in at #12 and immediately puts out Gowen. Now the fans are behind Shelley as every hammers on someone else.
Elix Skipper is in at #13 but Devine blocks all of his kicks. A top rope moonsault press drops Johnny and Starr puts out Kaz. Short Sleeved Sampson, a midget wrestler, is in at #14 as Shark Boy and D-Ray 3000 eliminate each other. Starr teases throwing him over every rope until Norman Smiley comes in at #15. Sampson dropkicks Starr into the ropes so Smiley can do the Big Wiggle. Shelley dumps Sampson, who runs after referee Slick Johnson for no apparent reason.
Petey Williams comes in at #16 to give us the final grouping of Starr, Lethal, Shelley, Devine, Skipper, Smiley and Williams. As Petey comes in, referee Johnson takes off his shirt and dumps Skipper, apparently entering the match. Williams eliminates him in about two seconds as you would expect. Smiley was eliminated off camera so we’re down to five. The Canadian Destroyer plants Lethal and fires up the crowd all over again.
Petey goes to dump Jay but Shelley sneaks up to eliminate Williams instead. Starr throws Devine out and backdrops Alex out as well, leaving us with the one on one match of Lethal vs. Starr. Jay gets two off a release dragon suplex but gets crotched on the top. A quick brainbuster gives Starr the pin. The one on one stuff wasn’t even two minutes.
Rating: C+. This was fine and they kept it quick which was the right idea. They also did a good job of setting up Starr as a big deal but it wouldn’t quite work out that way. Nash’s jokes would keep going and get stranger and stranger, yet funnier at the same time. This was a good way to open the show though they could have cut out a few entrants.
Starr is given his trophy but Shelley doesn’t seem cool.
We see LAX beating down AMW and Gail Kim on Impact.
AMW says they’re ready for LAX.
America’s Most Wanted vs. Team 3D vs. Naturals vs. James Gang
So that video pretty much meant nothing didn’t it? This is one fall to a finish. The Naturals’ manager Shane Douglas does their intro and then leaves as was his custom at this point. The James Gang is the New Age Outlaws. Storm runs over Stevens to start and dropkicks him into the corner for the tag off to Ray. James gets planted with a Rock Bottom and Harris gets clotheslined for trying to make a save.
BG tags himself in and we get a double Flip Flop and Fly from he and Ray on AMW. Kip and D-Von come in and jump both guys but get clotheslined out to the floor. Storm comes back in with an enziguri to Ray before going after the Naturals, only for both teams to get caught in a Tower of Doom with Douglas taking the worst of it. BG escapes the Catatonic and hits the pumphandle slam on Harris but gets clotheslined down by Stevens.
Storm pops up with the Eye of the Storm to Chase, only to get caught in D-Von’s reverse inverted DDT. A Bubba Bomb drops Douglas but Kip hits Ray with a Fameasser. Stevens decks Kip for two on Ray as BG and I think Harris fight up the ramp. Team 3D hits a Doomsday Device on Stevens and there’s a What’s Up for Douglas. It’s table time but Stevens dropkicks Team 3D down. The Natural Disaster plants D-Von for two before he pops up for 3D on Douglas for the pin.
Rating: C-. This was kind of mess without enough time to mean anything and no flow to the match. It was a tag team version of the cruiserweight mess which was only there for high spots. It doesn’t help with the James Gang was there for nostalgia and the Naturals just weren’t that interesting. The match wasn’t bad but it didn’t do anything for me.
Shane Douglas comes out and stares at Team 3D but it doesn’t go anywhere. He yells at the Naturals instead.
JB tries to get an interview with Samoa Joe but finds Jake Roberts instead. Jake is refereeing the Monster’s Ball match tonight.
We recap Monster’s Ball. Joe had stolen Jeff Jarrett’s World Title belt and TNA boss Jim Cornette wanted to get it back. Abyss agreed to get it back in exchange for the first title shot. Raven and Brother Runt (Spike Dudley) stopped Abyss before he could deliver the title to Cornette. The result was a four way Monster’s Ball, because this is what Samoa Joe should be doing instead of fighting a top star. You know, the guy that beat the World Champion in the main event of a pay per view last month.
Samoa Joe vs. Brother Runt vs. Abyss vs. Raven
Anything goes with one fall to a finish and Jake Roberts refereeing for no apparent reason. Joe has a cut on his forehead due to Abyss trying to get the belt back. Everyone gangs up on Joe in the corner and Abyss throws him out to the floor. Runt heads outside to get some weapons as Raven hammers away on Abyss. The drop toehold puts Abyss face first onto the chair and Raven hiptosses Runt onto Abyss for good measure.
Joe comes back in and cleans house and hits the Facewash on Raven in the corner. Raven and Runt break up a double chokeslam attempt and Abyss throws him over the top rope and into the crowd. That kind of spot always looks cool. Raven hits the discus lariat to put Abyss outside and follows him out with a dive. Joe dives over the top to take all of them out and lands on his feet for good measure. Abyss is up first and throws Joe through a table before chasing Runt up the set. A BIG chokeslam sends Runt down onto the stage in a big crash. Abyss dives onto Runt for an even bigger crash but the camera is on Roberts.
Raven knocks Joe through another table as Abyss takes Runt back into the ring. Abyss plants Raven for two as Roberts takes forever to count. Joe gets back in and breaks up Shock Treatment on Raven. He dumps Raven to the floor and hits a running boot to Abyss’ chest, only to miss the backsplash. Abyss loads up a chair but walks into a powerslam onto the steel for another slow two.
Raven gets back in and drop toeholds Joe out to the floor to slow things down again. We get the tacks brought in but Jake brings in his bag to stop it for no apparent reason. Raven jumps Roberts and loads up a DDT but Abyss makes the save. Now the tacks are spread out and Abyss loads up the Black Hole Slam, only to have Joe low bridge Raven to the floor. Joe sends Abyss into the tacks and puts on the Clutch but Raven breaks it up with a chair. Jake grabs the chair and DDTs Raven, setting up the MuscleBuster to give Joe the pin on Raven.
Rating: C-. This was nowhere near as good as last year’s match and it felt like a formality until Joe got the win. He didn’t need to be in this match and it was a big waste of his time. The match was a decent brawl but it felt like lining up bodies for Joe to crush in short order. Speaking of short, Runt disappeared for the last five minutes of the match. Also what in the world was the point of Roberts being there?
Raven gets the snake treatment post match.
Eric Young is panicking over possibly getting fired (as always). Larry Zbyszko comes in and says he already has Young beaten.
We recap Young vs. Zbyszko. Larry was a corrupt boss who cost Young his job but the other boss, Jim Cornette, reinstated Eric to have a Loser Gets Fired match here.
Eric Young vs. Larry Zbyszko
The fans are entirely behind Eric. Since this is a Larry Zbyszko match, we’re quickly into the stalling. Eric points at Larry to make the fans boo then points at himself to make the fans cheer. Somehow, this eats up over a minute and a half. Back in and Larry hits a quick kick to the ribs and puts on an abdominal stretch. Eric quickly fights out and the referee gets bumped, allowing Larry to pull out a foreign object. Since Larry is an old villain though, the plan backfires and Eric nails Larry (some hero) with the object for the pin.
Rating: F. We waited an hour and a half for our first singles match and this is what we got? As usual, when the best thing you can say about a match is that it was short, you have a major problem. This should have been Eric against a big name for Larry’s job instead of Zbyszko himself, but this is the company that just had Samoa Joe vs. Spike Dudley in the third match on the biggest show of the year.
Video on Senshi which doubles as a commercial for Mortal Kombat.
Here’s Jim Cornette with something to say. He has a very sore throat and can barely talk (I’m as shocked as you are) but there was nothing that would keep him from being here. Since Angle and Joe are so ready to fight each other, Joe loses his job if he comes to the ring for tonight’s main event.
This brings out Kurt Angle who is in the mood for a fight. Angle praises TNA and promises to call the main event right down the middle. He doesn’t need a buffer from Samoa Joe, and here’s the Samoan himself. The brawl is on immediately but security breaks it up pretty fast. The guys get at each other again but security splits them up one more time. Why this match isn’t happening on this show boggles my mind.
We recap Senshi vs. Chris Sabin. This is a rematch from No Surrender last month where Senshi won after hitting Sabin with an inflatable doll. Did I mention that was the Jackass show? This is the serious rematch after they had a good match ruined by “comedy”. Somehow this video takes two minutes.
X-Division Title: Senshi vs. Chris Sabin
Chris is challenging and is the home state boy. We’re told that Joe has been ejected from the building because TNA doesn’t know what to do with him yet. Senshi is better known as Low Ki if you haven’t heard of him before. Feeling out process to start with neither guy being able to gain the advantage. Senshi fires off kicks to the chest to start and takes Sabin down. A hard chop to the chest wakes Sabin up and there’s a Great Muta Power Drive elbow for two.
Off to a quick arm hold before Sabin comes back with forearms to the jaw. Sabin charges into two boots in the corner for two and gets caught in a bodyscissors to keep the champion in control. Back up again and they chop it out with Sabin getting the better of it, only to get kicked in the ribs. Another kick staggers Sabin but he pops back up with a missile dropkick to stun the champion.
Senshi gets kicked out to the floor for a big suicide dive from Sabin. Back in and Sabin nails an enziguri before tying Senshi in the Tree of Woe for a hesitation dropkick and two. Senshi comes back with a dragon sleeper but lets it go to try a cartwheel kick. Sabin is ready for it and kicks Senshi out of the air before nailing a wicked tornado DDT for two. They head up top for a superplex attempt but Senshi rolls through into a sunset flip, only to pop to his feet for a Warrior’s Way double stomp and two.
A springboard spinning kick to the face partially misses, allowing Sabin to get up at two. Back up and a running big boot in the corner nails Senshi right in the jaw. Senshi pops right back up because he doesn’t sell very often and tries the Ki Crusher but Sabin counters into the Cradle Shock for two.
He takes Senshi up again but the champion balances on the ropes and fires off kicks to the chest to escape. Senshi nails the top rope Warrior’s Way for a delayed two as Sabin gets his foot on the ropes. The fans are WAY into these near falls. Back to the dragon sleeper but Senshi lets go to drive in elbows, allowing Sabin to small package him for the pin and the title.
Rating: B. This had a few lulls but it worked really well near the end. I really liked the ending with Senshi not being able to beat Sabin using all of his tricks and finally abandoning his warrior mentality and going insane, allowing Sabin to grab a quick win. The near falls were red hot in this and the crowd carried it up a level. Good stuff.
Christian rants about no one caring about Rhino growing up on the streets of Detroit because no one cares about Rhino. The concussion Christian gave him is nothing compared to what’s coming here tonight. Christian is glad he wasn’t invited to Rhino’s house for dinner because Rhino’s aunt’s cooking sucked!
We recap Christian vs. Rhino. They used to be friends but Christian lost the World Title and snapped, eventually nailing Rhino over and over again with chairs and concussing him with a Conchairto. Tonight it’s an 8 Mile Street Fight (read as: a street fight) for revenge and violence. Christian hasn’t been pinned or submitted in a singles match since he debuted in TNA.
Christian Cage vs. Rhino
Rhino comes through the crowd as the hometown guy. He doesn’t want to wait in the ring though and goes out into the parking lot to slug it out in a ring of cars. It’s all Rhino to start until they head back inside with Christian being thrown through some boxes. Christian hides on top of a Zamboni machine for some reason, so Rhino just drives it into the arena. They head to the ramp with Rhino nailing him with a lamp post decoration.
It’s time to busts out the regular weapons with Rhino throwing in some chairs. He tries to bring in another lamp post but gets nailed in the arm with a chair. Rhino no sells the shot and hits Christian with the post but the Gore is met with a chair to the head. They head outside again with Rhino taking him into the crowd, apparently immune to chair shots to the head as well.
Rhino takes over again in the crowd and brings it back to ringside where he slides a table into the ring. A belly to belly drops Christian and Rhino sets up the table in the corner. Christian pops back up and nails Rhino in the head with an 8 Mile road sign. He throws the sign down and spits on it to really tick the fans off. Rhino is busted open and his eyes are glazed over. He’s not in bad enough shape that he can’t take Christian down when he charges with a ladder though and Christian is in trouble.
Rhino’s middle rope splash only hits ladder though and Christian hits the Unprettier for two. I would have thought that was the ending. A ladder shot to the face puts Rhino down again and Christian puts the ladder over Rhino’s chest. Now Christian brings in another chair and a straight jacket and Rhino is tied up. Christian misses a Conchairto and Rhino is able to fight back with kicks and headbutts until the referee gets him out of the jacket.
They fight on the apron over a table at ringside but Rhino punches him back into the ring. Instead he takes Christian right back outside for a piledriver off the apron and through the table for a BIG crash. Somehow that only gets two back inside as the fans think that was awesome. Back up and the Gore sends Rhino through the table by mistake but he’s up at two. Another Unprettier onto the broken table gets two more and Christian is livid. With nothing else to do he piles up everything in the ring on top of Rhino and nails him with a chair eight times in a row for the pin.
Rating: B+. This was a WAR with both guys hammering on each other until there was nothing left of one guy. Christian looked like a killer here and that’s what you have someone like Rhino around for. He can make people look good and brawl but a loss really doesn’t hurt him that badly. Good stuff again.
Konnan says the LAX is raising the violence tonight.
We recap the Tag Team Title match. LAX is a rising force in TNA and it takes someone special to slow them down. In this case it’s the dream team of Christopher Daniels/AJ Styles, who have traded the titles with LAX over the summer in some outstanding matches. Tonight is the final blowoff in a cage.
Tag Team Titles: LAX vs. AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels
AJ and Daniels are defending and you win by pin, submission or both guys escaping. The champions charges into the ring and the brawl is on before the bell again. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker puts Homicide down and it’s Daniels kicking Hernandez down to start. Apparently this is one of those matches where they have to tag for a few minutes before it becomes a brawl. Styles comes in for a modified version of the drop down into the dropkick for two on Homicide.
Styles gets slammed head first onto the mat but nips up into a headscissors followed by a backbreaker for another two. AJ tries a charge but flies into the cage and it’s off to big Hernandez. SuperMex LAUNCHES AJ into the cage so Daniels comes in to try and save his partner. He gets in a shot on Homicide but Hernandez takes him down with a big clothesline. An electric chair from Hernandez followed by a top rope elbow drop from Homicide gets two on Daniels.
AJ is already busted open as Hernandez slams Daniels down for another two count. Konnan hands Homicide what looks like a fork to stab Daniels in the head to draw even more blood. Back to Hernandez to send Daniels into the cage and nail him with a WICKED powerbomb for another near fall with Styles making the save. Homicide spits tequila in Daniels’ face before taking him to the top, only to get hiptossed down to the mat to put both guys down.
The hot tag brings in AJ for the smoothest moonsault into the reverse DDT I’ve ever seen him hit for two on Homicide. We finally get down to the brawl that everyone has been waiting for with the champions taking over. They go high/low on Homicide and drive Hernandez into the cage twice in a row. The Pele staggers Homicide and now it’s Daniels with the fork carving up Homicide’s head.
Hernandez gets knocked into the corner but pops back up to splash Daniels into the corner. Another Pele puts Hernandez down and AJ goes all the way to the top of the cage. Homicide follows him up and grabs Styles’ head. Daniels grabs Homicide but Hernandez grabs them both for the Tower of Doom.
AJ is still up top though and hits a HUGE high cross body onto Hernandez for two. A pair of Gringo Cutters drop the champions….and Hernandez goes all the way to the top of the cage. This can’t end well. He misses the big splash on Styles and everyone is down. Daniels loads up Angel’s Wings on Hernandez but Konnan hands Homicide a coat hanger to choke Daniels down to the mat. Konnan chokes Daniels against the cage, leaving AJ alone. Styles loads up Homicide for the Clash but Hernadnez takes his head off, allowing Homicide to hit the Gringo Killa for the pin and the titles.
Rating: A. Oh yeah this was awesome. This feud was named Feud of the Year in TNA and should have been feud of the year in wrestling (except in Dave Meltzer’s mind because he gave a wrestling award to an MMA feud). It’s a great war with both teams seemingly having the match won time after time. Check out this entire series as it’s more than worth your time.
We recap Sting vs. Jarrett. They’ve been feuding for months and Sting had his ONE shot at Hard Justice but blew the chance to get rid of the “cancer” from TNA. Then Samoa Joe beat Jarrett at No Surrender, so of course the match at Bound For Glory is Sting vs. Jarrett again because the ONE TIME they should have done a triple threat, they give it to Sting again because he needs this honor as well right? Sting’s career is on the line, even though he hadn’t been seen in months before. No seriously, he didn’t even come on TV to hype this up save for maybe once near the end.
NWA World Title: Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett
Jarrett is defending and Angle is guest outside enforcer. Sting comes out in his old style attire with the red and black tights and white and red face paint. They trade hiptosses to start before Jeff takes over with right hands and a hiptoss of his own. Sting misses a right hand and gets dropped by a shot to the jaw. He bails to the floor for a breather but comes back in and tries to get the crowd into it. Jarrett spits at Sting and now the beating is on.
Sting busts out a powerbomb of all things to plant Jeff followed by a running clothesline to put him on the floor. Angle goes over to Jeff and gets in a needless shoving match (to be fair Jeff started it) until Sting sends Jeff into the barricade. We lose a cameraman as Angle sends the regular referee into the ring to make sure the guys can fight. The champ tries to bring in a chair but Angle takes it away, allowing Sting to suplex Jeff on the ramp. To be fair though, Angle takes the chair away from Jarrett.
Jeff tries to get in a cheap shot with a chair on Sting but takes out Angle by mistake. Back in and Jeff hooks a sleeper. Sting quickly elbows out though and a double cross body puts both guys down. The referee gets to a double nine count so Angle runs in and Angle Slams him to make sure this keeps going. Sting makes his comeback and hammers away, nailing the Stinger Splash and Death Drop but Jeff gets a shoulder up at two.
The Stroke gets the same on Sting but he comes back with a bad looking tombstone for two more. Jeff pops up and tries a middle rope Stroke but Sting slams him down, only to have his splash hit knees. The Figure Four goes on for a bit until Sting turns it over and makes the rope. Jeff puts on an ankle lock and Sting can’t make the ropes. Instead he rolls forward and sends Jeff out to the floor. Sting gets the bat but Angle takes it away. Now we get old school as Sting no sells a guitar shot and puts on the Scorpion for the submission and the title.
Rating: C+. It’s really hard to screw up Jarrett vs. Sting due to them just being so familiar with each other. Thankfully they kept the overbooking on a leash here and the match was much better as a result. I don’t think anyone thought Jarrett was leaving with the gold here but that’s fine for something like this. Joe should have been in it though. Jarrett would never get the title back.
Sting celebrates to end the show.
Overall Rating: B. There are some problems here but just like last year, the middle part of the show more than carries it over the finish line. That cage match and the street fight were both awesome and you have a solid X-Division Title match. The only bad thing on the card is Young vs. Zbyszko and that’s not even four minutes long. See, if this is what TNA was putting out now, it could be the actual alternative. I get why they got away from this, but why don’t they go back to it if they’re going to get the same results?
Ratings Comparison
Kevin Nash Open Invitational X-Division Gauntlet Battle Royal
Original: C
Redo: C+
Team 3D vs. America’s Most Wanted vs. James Gang vs. Naturals
Original: D
Redo: C-
Samoa Joe vs. Abyss vs. Raven vs. Brother Runt
Original: D
Redo: C-
Larry Zbyszko vs. Eric Young
Original: F
Redo: F
Senshi vs. Chris Sabin
Original: A-
Redo: B
Christian Cage vs. Rhino
Original: B+
Redo: B+
AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels vs. LAX
Original: A-
Redo: A
Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting
Original: C-
Redo: C+
Overall Rating
Original: B
Redo: B
It’s about the same but that cage match was even better the second time around.
Here’s the original review if you’re interesting:
https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/04/05/bound-for-glory-2006-could-have-been-a-masterpiece/
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