Bound For Glory 2025 Preview
I can never remember if I do a preview for this show or not, but it’s undoubtedly TNA’s biggest show of the year so it deserves some attention. Throw in its connection to WWE via the NXT crossovers and the show is going to be special. There are some NXT stars appearing on the card and that should make for some interesting situations, even if the main event feels easy to predict. Let’s get to it.
Kickoff Show: Knockouts Tag Team Titles: IInspiration(c) vs. Elegance Brand
This was thrown together just before the show and that’s kind of the best fit for it. While the titles are still important enough, it isn’t like there is much in the way of a division fighting over them. In other words, it’s the same problem that has plagued these things for years. The IInspiration won the titles rather soon, and in theory that should mean something for this match.
I’ll go with the champions retaining the titles here, as there isn’t much of a reason to put them back on the Brand so soon. Unless the title change was only for the sake of getting the IInspiration, and that didn’t need to be the case, I can’t imagine such a fast title reign. The titles stay in place here, even if there aren’t exactly many teams who can come after them at the moment.
Call Your Shot Gauntlet
We’ll get this one out of the way early, mainly because we only know a handful of the people in the match. There are going to be twenty all together, but there are less than ten announced thus far. That is going to make things tricky, as one of those names is some kind of social media person. We don’t quite know much about the match and that leaves a lot of this in the dark.
Based on the people involved in the match, I’ll go with….geez I guess Mance Warner, who is in the final spot. Odds are this is going to wind up with someone who isn’t listed yet (Tommy Dreamer is all but guaranteed to be involved) but based on who is there, I can’t picture Nic Nemeth or Joe Hendry getting the win. Either way, just please don’t do the cash-in on the main event, unless the cash-in is failing.
Gia Miller vs. Tessa Blanchard
I have no idea why this is on the show. I get the story and everything, but you have a star like Blanchard and she’s fighting an interviewer who isn’t even a regular wrestler outside of TNA? In theory this is at worst some kind of punishment for Blanchard, but it feels like something that should be on Impact at best. Here we are though, and I’m still trying to get my head around it.
There is no reason to think that Miller is winning here (and TNA is absolutely insane if she does) so I’ll go with Blanchard taking it. This is one of those matches that almost needs to have some kind of interference or shenanigans to make it work, because otherwise we could be in for a near disaster. Blanchard needs to win and do something else or just get out of the company, as I have no idea why this is happening.
International Title: Frankie Kazarian(c) vs. Steve Maclin
I didn’t even realize this was on the card and that’s kind of telling about what it means. Kazarian took the title from Maclin not very long ago and we’re getting a rematch, which isn’t a bad idea at all. It isn’t like Kazarian has had the time to set something up with a new challenger so having him in there against a former World Champion is fine. Maclin has done well in his own right recently so this should be good.
Much like the Knockouts Tag Team Titles, I don’t see a reason for the title to change hands so quickly, so I’ll take Kazarian retaining. Odds are he cheats to win here, possibly with someone coming out there to help put Maclin down. It’s going to be a good one as both guys are more than solid in the ring and that’s a positive thing to have on any card, which is why it’s here.
TNA/NXT Tag Team Titles: Hardys(c) vs. Dudley Boyz
It’s a tables match (dubbed One Final Table) and…yeah if we just have to do this. I get the nostalgia aspect and all that jazz, but dang it’s hard to get my head around the idea that this is the best we have for the Tag Team Titles. Then again, it’s not like TNA has ever had any issue with pushing the Hardys WAY too hard so here we go one more time, as the clock is turned WAY back to the year 2000. In New York. In the WWF.
There is pretty much no reason to believe that this is going to be anything other than the Hardys retaining so I’m going to go with the most logical option. It’s going to be violent and probably bloody, but at the end of the day, it’s not likely that the Dudleys, who aren’t even a regular team anymore, are going to win the titles from two big time promotions. Just let them do their nostalgia deal here and move on with the Hardys retaining.
The System vs. Order 4
This is Hardcore War, which is basically WarGames without the cage. These teams have put together a nice story as I want to see them fight, which is a good sign. I’m not sure how much I need it to be hardcore, but it does feel like something that belongs on a show like Bound For Glory. What does hurt it though is that one team feels like it is on the decline while the other is on the rise and that’s what brings us to the result.
I don’t see much of a reason to believe that the System is winning here so I’ll take Order 4 to go over. This is the kind of match where Agent Zero could get some nice shine while Ali gets the win, which should make for a good moment. I’m hoping that they get to go insane here, as otherwise it’s not exactly going to be the most thrilling match, even with Order 4 winning.
Knockouts Title: Kelani Jordan(c) vs. Indi Hartwell
This is another match that feels rather thrown together, mainly due to the issue of Ash By Elegance being taken out of the picture out of nowhere. Jordan has been tossed into the spot and that’s about as good as they could have gone. Well granted it might have been better to put a TNA star into the spot instead, but I guess they’re going for the idea of a Knockout saving the title. Ignore that it’s from a not so evil champion.
So of course I’ll take Hartwell to win the title here. Even if she isn’t the most thrilling star to see out there a lot of the time, she’s the one that TNA seems to be going with at the moment, which means we’ll be seeing her get the title. Jordan is little more than a filler, and unfortunately that doesn’t leave much in the way of drama about what is likely happening here.
X-Division Title: Leon Slater(c) vs. Je’Von Evans
This is one of those ideas that pretty much sells itself. Here we have two incredibly talented wrestlers getting to go out there and go nuts for however long. It’s something that TNA has made work for years and that is what we are likely going to be seeing again here. Evans is someone that WWE clearly wants to push and Slater is someone who TNA is already giving quite the spot, so this should be a blast.
While I could see a slight chance of Evans winning here, I’ll take Slater to retain. TNA has lost more than enough to NXT over the course of their time together so there isn’t much of a reason to believe it will happen again here. It’s a match that should be all kinds of fun and they should be flying all over the place until Slater hits that awesome Swanton 450 to retain.
TNA World Title: Trick Williams(c) vs. Mike Santana
Here’s where we get to the biggest issue: I see a grand total of no reason to believe that Williams has any kind of a chance here. Williams has been the champion for a few months now and the idea has been that TNA needs to get the title back from the NXT invader. That’s where Santana comes in, and the fact that he has been built up so well makes it feel even more likely.
This very well might be the easiest pick on the card, as I can’t imagine that TNA would manage to screw this up two years in a row. Much like last year with Joe Hendry, Santana is ready to become the top star in the company and that is why we should be seeing a title change. Just go with what it needs to be and make the whole thing into a big happy ending for everyone involved. Unless they end with the Hardys again, which very well may be the case.
Overall Thoughts
I’m liking the show well enough, but as usual, it’s going to depend on how the two longer form matches go. In this case that means the gauntlet match and the Hardcore War, which could wind up being long and dull as they have been in the past. If we get the big happy ending of Santana winning the title though, it should work out well enough, as the card looks pretty good. Just make it more about TNA than NXT and everything should be fine.
Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at: