Bound For Glory 2013
Date: October 20, 2013
Location: Viejas Arena, San Diego, California
Attendance: 3,000
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

We’ll wrap up the redos here with a show that really doesn’t feel like the biggest deal of the year. The main event is AJ Styles, who has spent most of the year channeling 1997 Sting as the loner who barely talks, challenging Aces and 8’s President Bully Ray. This doesn’t feel like as big a deal as it should due to Ray only having won the title back about two months ago following a meaningless reign by Chris Sabin. Let’s get to it.

There was a pre-show match in 2013.

Pre-Show: Gauntlet Match

This is a four team gauntlet match with the winners getting a Tag Team Title shot on the regular pay per view. We start with Bad Influence vs. Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez. Guerrero and Kaz get things going but it’s quickly off to Hernandez who hits the over the shoulder backbreaker to both guys at the same time. SuperMex heads to the ramp and gets a running start to take out Bad Influence with a huge running double clothesline.

We take a break and come back with Hernandez hitting a kind of powerbomb on Kaz for no cover. Both guys crawl over to make tags so Chavo can speed things up with shoulders to Daniels. Everything quickly breaks down and Hernandez is back up to clean house with clotheslines. Chavo hits Three Amigos on Daniels because he’s an Eddie Guerrero tribute wrestler. Speaking of Eddie, Chavo goes up for the Frog Splash but Kaz shoves him off the top to give Daniels a rollup pin.

Joseph Park and Eric Young are the third team and drop Kaz with a double back elbow. Park’s big splash gets no cover but he does slam Kaz down again. Park tries another slam but gets dropped on his head to change control. Bad Influence changes without a tag because they’re, well, bad, allowing Daniels to send Park face first into Kaz’s boot. A slingshot elbow followed by a slingshot legdrop gets two as Young teases interfering.

Kaz’s sunset flip is countered but Park only hits mat when trying to sit down. We take another break and come back with Eric getting the hot tag and cleaning house with elbows and right hands. A belly to belly gets two on Daniels but he comes back with a release Rock Bottom. He misses the BME though and Park’s Samoan drop gives Young the pin.

Before the fourth team comes out though, Kaz lays out Young with Fade to Black and send Park into the Ultimate X structure. The BroMans are the final team (due to winning a match on Impact and come out with Mr. Olympia Phil Heath. Park is carried to the back and we’re starting with a handicap match. Robbie starts for the team but it’s quickly off to Jesse for a shot to the ribs. Young comes back with a double clothesline and some right hands to both Bros. The top rope elbow gets two as Jesse makes a save and the yet to be named BroDown (Hart Attack) gives the BroMans the title shot.

Rating: C. This match got a good deal of time, running about twenty two minutes. That’s far more than you usually get in a gauntlet match and it’s really nice for a change. I always have trouble with gauntlets as most of the falls take no time, which makes me wonder why that never happens in regular matches. This was a free match so it’s hard to complain when compared to the rest of the card.

The opening video is almost all about AJ with his voiceovers talking about how tired he is of doing the right thing all the time. Now he’s back to fight for himself instead of TNA, even though it makes him the same guy he used to be when he got ticked off. One other note: Dixie Carter is now evil and has sided with Bully Ray, who is still trying to take over her company. It was around this time that people were sick of hearing from her, so of course she became a bigger and bigger focal point of TV.

Taz is now part of Aces and 8’s so we have a heel commentator.

X-Division Title: Samoa Joe vs. Manik vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Sabin vs. Austin Aries

Ultimate X with Manik defending against an all-star lineup. Joe is part of the reformed Main Event Mafia which is around to fight Aces and 8’s. Sabin quickly goes to the corner but gets glared down by everyone else in the match. Instead he bails to the floor and pulls Aries outside with him, only to be rammed into the tress. Back inside and Manik is put in the Tree of Woe so Sabin can stand on his crotch.

Tenay says this is the 32^nd time Ultimate X has been held, which is pretty frequent considering the company isn’t even twelve years old at this point. Joe snapmares Chris down for a loud chop to the back, making Sabin’s girlfriend Velvet Sky scream. Manik takes Joe down with a springboard dropkick as Hardy and Aries start going up the tress. Jeff pulls Austin down before Manik hurricanranas Hardy and Sabin down.

Aries is left alone in the ring and goes up, only to have Hardy pull him right back down before hitting the reverse powerbomb from last year. Since it’s a Jeff Hardy match, it’s ladder time until Joe hits a suicide elbow to take Jeff out. Sabin baseball slides the ladder into Joe but Manik dropkicks Joe down. Aries dives onto Joe and Manik but Manik gets back up and hurricanranas Sabin out to the floor.

Joe hammers away on Aries in the corner but the MuscleBuster is countered. Hardy comes back in but eats the running dropkick, followed by Joe getting the same. The brainbuster is countered into a swinging Koquina Clutch to send Aries outside. The champ goes up but gets pulled down into a low blow. Joe hits a running backsplash on Manik before getting dropkicked out to the floor by Sabin.

The Whisper in the Wind drops Sabin and now the ladder is brought in. Manik and Aries climb the ladder and fight over the belt but Sabin knocks it over. He goes after Hardy instead of climbing, earning himself a Twist of Fate. Sabin tells Velvet Sky to stop Hardy from climbing and throws her in the ring against her will. The distraction of Velvet in that tight of a dress lets Sabin run up the ladder to win the title.

Rating: C+. This was a good idea to freshen up the match but at the same time they’ve killed the concept. Why in the world would someone use the hard method of crawling along the ropes now instead of just climbing a ladder? It’s a nice followup to Sabin’s World Title run and heel turn, but it’s not like the title means anything outside of Destination X season.

It’s time for our theme of the night: great AJ Styles moments, starting with Styles becoming the first X-Division Champion back in 2002.

Here’s Bad Influence to fill some time since this is a seven match card. Kaz says no men have been screwed more than them since Brokeback Mountain. It’s an embarrassment that they’re not on the card tonight since Bad Influence IS TNA. They beat Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez and then had to face a lawyer and a fisherman so that shouldn’t even count. TNA loves to mess with things so let’s make it a three way for the Tag Team Titles.

This brings out Eric Young who says he’s here on scientific business. Earlier tonight, Bad Influence created a monster and everyone knows they should run. They beat him down but here’s Abyss to save his partner and clean house. Both Bad Influences take Black Hole Slams and Abyss helps Young up.

Gunner and James Storm tell the BroMans to not worry about their hair and girls because the champions are ready for them. JB’s hair looks funny for some reason.

Tag Team Titles: BroMans vs. James Storm/Gunner

Storm had a spot in a four way Tag Team Title match at Slammiversary and Gunner impressed him enough to get on the team. They won the belts and haven’t had much competition since. Mr. Olympia Phil Heath is with the challengers again. It’s a brawl to start with the champions cleaning house and Storm being backdropped over the top onto the BroMans. Back in and Storm throws Jesse across the ring before bringing in Gunner for some right hands to the head.

Gunner takes Jesse into the corner for some chops but a Robbie distraction lets Jesse pull him off the middle rope to take over. Robbie comes in legally and hammers away before giving it back to Jesse for two. E. quickly comes back in for a chinlock before Jesse breaks up a backslide attempt with a dropkick. The Bros break up a hot tag attempt and Jesse poses a lot. He gets crotched on the top though, allowing Gunner to hit a fall away slam to take Jesse down.

There’s the hot tag to Storm and house is cleaned again. James gets two off a top rope elbow and is sporting a big cut on his leg. Everything breaks down and Robbie escapes the Eye of the Storm before nailing an implant DDT for two. Gunner plants Robbie with an Irish Curse but Jesse breaks up the Gun Rack. A powerbomb/Backstabber combo gets a VERY close two on Robbie. The Last Call plants Jesse but Robbie throws in a title belt for a distraction, setting up the BroDown for the pin and the titles.

Rating: C-. I remember this being a bit better but the match wasn’t that bad. The near fall was really good and having new champions was a big surprise, but it was still missing something. I have no idea why Heath was out there as he didn’t add a thing to this match. Not bad but the new champs wouldn’t have anyone to feud with for awhile.

Video on Angle’s Hall of Fame induction.

Sting comes out to officially induct Angle into the Hall of Fame. Kurt comes out and thanks the fans but says he can’t accept this induction. This wound up being a story and Angle would eventually accept, which makes the Hall of Fame seem like a prop for angles rather than something special. It’s not a horrible thing but I still don’t like this. My guess however is it had something to do with Angle’s DUI in early August.

Clip of AJ wining the World title at No Surrender 2009.

Dixie Carter puts all of AJ’s merchandise on sale. Her nephew Ethan comes up and we get the new catchphrase: “The world needs us. We’re the Carters.” Well he’s easy to hate.

Knockouts Title: Gail Kim vs. Brooke vs. ODB

ODB is defending and Aces and 8’s member Brooke is Miss Tessmacher. Brooke is quickly run over and Gail gets sent to the floor by the champion. Back up and Brooke stomps away in the corner before giving ODB a Stinkface. That’s fine with ODB who pops up and chest bumps Brooke into the corner for a Bronco Buster. Gail gets back in and is quickly knocked right back to the floor. Brooke faceplants ODB for two as Gail is holding her arm.

ODB powers up to break a reverse chinlock but gets dropped by a running forearm. A spinning neckbreaker puts the champion down for two but Gail pulls Brooke down for a Figure Four around the post. ODB takes Gail down but Brooke gets two off a rollup. Off to a half crab on Brooke and Gail has to run in to break up a tap out. Both challengers go to the top so ODB tries to superplex them both, only to be shoved down. Gail missile dropkicks ODB and Brooke drops a top rope elbow on Kim to put all three on the mat.

ODB is up first to run everyone over but the referee gets crushed in the corner. Another shot knocks him out to the floor and we get the double fireman’s carry to show off ODB’s strength. Brooke falls off so ODB gives Gail the Bam onto Brooke’s body. Cue Lei’D Tapa to fight with ODB and knock the champion to the floor. A powerbomb plants Brooke and Tapa puts Gail on top for the pin and the title.

Rating: D+. Giving Gail a new monster bodyguard doesn’t make her any more interesting. Tapa had a different kind of look but at the end of the day, she was nothing compared to Ivelisse from Gut Check. The match was nothing we haven’t seen on Impact a bunch of times and just restarts the circle of Knockouts with the title all over again.

New broadcaster Gil Corsey (he didn’t last) is with the BroMans and Mr. Olympia. Protein shakes are poured and that’s about it.

Bobby Roode says he’ll prove he’s a better man than Kurt.

We recap Roode vs. Angle. Roode didn’t like Angle going into the Hall of Fame so he and Bad Influence (the Extraordinary Gentlemen’s Organization) inducted Bobby into the EGO Hall of Fame.

Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode

This is Angle’s first match back from rehab. Feeling out process to start with Roode actually taking him down to the mat. Kurt is a bit more hesitant to go after Roode this time but gets caught in a headlock anyway. A quick Crossface attempt sends Angle running but his ankle lock does the same to Roode. Back in and Roode hammers away in the corner until Kurt suplexes him out to the floor.

The fight heads out to the floor where another suplex drops Bobby. Angle tries one too many times though and gets his neck snapped across the top rope. Back in and Roode stomps away before getting two off a suplex. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Angle fights up with right hands. The Rolling Germans have Roode in trouble but he gets a shoulder up at two. The Angle Slam is countered with an armdrag and Roode gets two off a spinebuster.

Kurt escapes a Roode Bomb and puts on the ankle lock as we’re into the trading finishers section. The counter sends Angle arm first into the post and a DDT on the arm sets up the Crossface from Roode. A foot on the rope breaks the hold and Roode is getting frustrated. He walks into another suplex but avoids the moonsault. Roode slaps on the Crossface again but Kurt grabs the ankle lock to break the hold. I love that counter. Bobby pulls him down and puts on the Crossface again until Angle rolls over for two.

That gets rolled over for two more and Angle’s clothesline is countered into yet another Crossface. Kurt reverses THAT into another Angle Slam for two but he can’t follow it up. They slug it out from their knees and Kurt starts rolling more Germans. Bobby can’t take more of those though so he grabs the referee, allowing a low blow to Angle. The yet to be named Roode Bomb gets a very close two. He loads up another one but Kurt rolls down into the ankle lock.

Angle gets the grapevine for good measure and Roode starts to black out, but he’s being crafty. Channeling his inner Bret Hart, Roode is goldbricking and uses the referee checking his arm to grab the rope. Kurt is frustrated but takes Roode to the top for a Super Angle Slam. Both guys are down but Roode gets to his feet long enough to fall on Angle for a surprise pin. Angle never moved after hitting the Slam.

Rating: A-. This was the great match of the show with both guys showing off some awesome stuff. I like that they went with the Austin vs. HHH finish from No Way Out where they hit each other but HHH fell on top for a pin. It’s also the right call as Angle didn’t need the win and Roode gets the (unmentioned) win back from Bound For Glory 2011.

Angle is taken out on medics but wakes up when they try to put a neck brace on him, allowing him to walk out on his own.

AJ beat Sting at Bound For Glory 2009.

Styles is getting ready.

Bully Ray is in the back with a bunch of people we can’t see. A lot of the Aces and 8’s had left at this point so it’s implied they’re back tonight. Ray says the team is reborn tonight and says it’s all about the colors. We never saw who he was talking to.

Ethan Carter III vs. Norv Fernum

Fernum is a jobber who might weigh 150lbs and both guys are debuting tonight. Carter throws him around to start as you would expect before dropping him with a forearm. A high collar t-bone suplex makes Taz smile and Ethan rubs his face in the mat. Fernum scores with some dropkicks and a high cross body for two. Not that it matters as the yet to be named 1%er gives Ethan the easy pin.

Rating: C. Of course it’s not much of a match but this was exactly what you want from a debut for a guy like Carter. He’s become such an awesome heel and this was the kind of start they should have gone with. They played up the idea of Carter getting a handpicked opponent, which is something a rich guy would get. Smart and effective debut.

Magnus says he’s going to get his big win tonight and become the star he’s destined to be, even if it’s at Sting’s expense.

We recap Magnus vs. Sting. Magnus was in the finals of the Bound For Glory Series and lost, destroying his confidence. Sting said Magnus, his Main Event Mafia brother, was going to be a star and Sting was going to give him the chance to do just that.

Magnus vs. Sting

Both guys are good here and this is about making Magnus a star instead of a rivalry. They trade headlocks to start until Sting clotheslines Magnus down. A shoulder puts him on the floor and we’re in a slow start. Sting holds the ropes to let Magnus back in before getting knocked out to the apron with a European uppercut. The Brit holds the ropes open for Sting before leveling him with a clothesline to take over.

Off to a bodyscissors from Magnus for awhile until Sting finally grabs the ropes. Some ax handles have Sting in more trouble and Magnus stays on the ribs and back. Sting comes right back with a backdrop and the Stinger Splash followed by the Deathlock with very little torque on it. Magnus powers out of it and a double clothesline puts both guys down.

Back up and Magnus starts no selling shots to the face ala Sting vs. Flair back in 1987 before hitting a Stinger Splash of his own. A Michinoku Driver gets two but Sting shrugs off a Cloverleaf attempt. Now Sting starts no selling and hits his own Stinger Splash and another Deathlock with so little torque that the fans are barely interested. I guess Sting’s knees just won’t let him sit down anymore.

Magnus finally makes the rope and stops another Splash with a European uppercut. The Scorpion Death Drop puts Sting down and the top rope elbow gets two. A second elbow misses but Magnus fights out of some Death Drop attempts with HARD elbows to the face. Sting says Magnus to come on so Magnus takes him down and puts on the Cloverleaf for the very surprising submission.

Rating: D+. The fans are really not pleased with the ending and I can’t say I blame them. One of the biggest problems with Sting’s later TNA stuff is how fast his matches end. There’s no buildup to them and they just stop out of nowhere. This wasn’t a very good match either but that’s the case with almost all passing the torch matches. Without any hatred between them, there’s no reason for them to be fighting and it makes for a dull match.

They shake hands post match but Magnus doesn’t seem too interested.

AJ beat Magnus to get the title shot tonight.

Bully quotes Welcome to the Jungle to tell AJ that he’s going to die tonight. He doesn’t want AJ to die though. Ray wants AJ to have to live with himself and go back to Gainesville, Georgia and go into that trailer park so he can look at his kids and tell them he’s a failure. That will kill AJ and tonight, he’s in Bully’s jungle.

We recap AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray, which is almost all about AJ vs. Dixie. AJ won the title shot in the BFG Series but the main story is about Dixie Carter not wanting a hick like AJ as the world champion. She’s promised tonight is his last night in the company and has made the main event basically a street fight.

TNA World Title: AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray

Bully is defending and has the gorgeous Brooke with him. Ray powers him into the corner to start and says he can see the fear in AJ’s eyes. Styles tells him to bring it and gets taken down by the wrist. He finally rolls out but takes AJ down with a big boot to the face. Bully knocks him down again and tells AJ he’ll take care of the wife and kids. That just ticks AJ off and the drop down into a dropkick puts Ray down.

AJ’s Calf Killer goes on out of nowhere but Aces and 8’s member Garrett Bischoff comes out for a distraction. Ray picks up a hammer but AJ kicks it out of his hands and swings it himself. Bully prevents a bad case of death by chopping Styles a few times to Taz’s delight. He mocks Hogan with the hand to the ear before chopping AJ again. AJ asks him for another and Ray backs up into the corner out of fear. Styles goes off on him in the corner but gets nailed by a clothesline.

Ray’s next chop leaves a handprint on AJ’s chest but he comes back with kicks to the leg. Cue Aces and 8’s member Knux for a chokeslam on Styles, giving Bully two. Ray is ticked off at the near fall so he pokes Hebner in the chest, only to get shouted down. A big running clothesline hits Knux by mistake and AJ grabs a rollup for two. Ray kicks AJ right in the face to knock him out to the floor as this is picking up again.

They head outside and Ray picks up the hammer but gets Peled onto the announcers’ table. Styles loads up the springboard 450 but Ray moves, sending AJ crashing through the table for a huge wreck. Taz hands Ray a boxcutter so the champ can start cutting up the ring. He peels back the mat and then the padding underneath, leaving only the wooden boards.

With AJ still down, Ray calls the boys to the ring. Instead he gets Dixie because where would we be without her? She hands Ray a chair but AJ comes in with the springboard forearm to drive the chair into Bully’s face. The springboard 450 connects but Dixie tells Hebner not to count the pin. The hesitation lets Ray kick out at what should have been about 15. AJ’s Clash is countered with a backdrop onto the wood and Ray actually hits the middle rope backsplash. It’s only good for two though so Ray nails him in the back with a chair. AJ escapes the piledriver and nails a Pele, followed by Spiral Tap for the pin and the title.

Rating: B-. The match was good but it felt like a long segment at times instead of a match. The missed splash looked great and ripping up the ring was interesting, but man alive does Dixie Carter drag down segments she’s in. It’s not due to being a bad character as she’s easy to hate. It’s that I just do not want to see her involved because she’s going to get way more focus than she deserves and make things a lot more annoying than interesting.

As for AJ’s character, it’s questionable at best. We spent months on him as the loner who didn’t want anything to do with TNA and teased being a part of Aces and 8’s, but now he’s TNA’s conquering hero? That’s a stretch to say the least and the match felt more about Dixie vs. AJ by the end. They could save that for later on TV, which they would do again because TNA does some questionable things.

A bunch of recaps and a celebration end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show tried and had its moments but there’s not enough here to make the show great. That being said, not having to sit through the bad TV shows setting up this show made things a lot easier. It’s just the wrestling and the main event and Roode vs. Angle matches make it worth sitting through. Not a great show or anything and the booking continues to be AWFUL but the wrestling isn’t bad.

Ratings Comparison

Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez vs. BroMans vs. Eric Young/Joseph Park vs. Bad Influence

Original: C

Redo: C-

Chris Sabin vs. Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Manik

Original: C+

Redo: C+

Gunner/James Storm vs. BroMans

Original: C

Redo: C-

Brooke vs. ODB vs. Gail Kim

Original: D+

Redo: D+

Bobby Roode vs. Kurt Angle

Original: B+

Redo: A-

Ethan Carter III vs. Norv Fernum

Original: D-

Redo: C

Sting vs. Magnus

Original: C

Redo: D+

AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray

Original: C

Redo: B-

Overall Rating

Original: D+

Redo: C+

As usual, the lack of sitting through the build is a good thing. When TNA cuts out the nonsense of TV, they’re much easier to sit through.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/10/20/bound-for-glory-2013-why-is-this-the-biggest-show-of-the-year/

So that’s Bound For Glory so far. Overall, the show is very endemic of TNA in general: they have good stuff, but the lack of creating top stars kills them. Four of the first five shows are more about Sting than anything else and the latter ones are mainly about Angle or Hogan. I get the idea of making them look strong so putting someone over them means something, but that only happened once at the biggest show of the year. Other than that, it’s almost all about making the old guys look good and that’s missing the point.

The show is worth checking out most of the time, but you can see TNA going downhill after about 2007. There’s almost always value to the show and none of them are horrible, but man alive they can be frustrating to sit through at times. Again, that’s true of so many things TNA does and they make it hard to be a fan for more than a little while at a time. Check out some of the better matches, but I wouldn’t recommend putting yourself through the full shows most of the time.

Bound For Glory 2012
Date: October 14, 2012
Location: Grand Canyon University Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Attendance: 2,900
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

It’s the age of the bikers now as the Aces and 8’s storyline has taken over TNA. This story started back in June and would still be going (kind of) at NEXT YEAR’S Bound For Glory because TNA doesn’t know how to just let something go. Again the real main event isn’t for the World Title, but rather Sting and Bully Ray facing off with two of the masked members of Aces and 8’s with access to the Impact Zone on the line. There’s also something about Jeff Hardy winning the Bound For Glory Series and challenging for the World Title but let’s get to the important stuff like Sting with Hogan in his corner. Let’s get to it.

Before I get started, I have to give this show praise for its tagline: The Memories Are Waiting. That actually gave me a chill when I first heard it and it still really works.

The opening video focuses on the moments at Bound For Glory. Oddly enough a lot of them focus on Sting. This really does make the show look like the biggest event of the year which is a very important thing for a wrestling company to have.

The announcers hype up the show and run down the card.

We have an old school ramp to the ring.

X-Division Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Zema Ion

Ion is defending and is obsessed with his hair. There’s no story here because there wasn’t time to get one together. Literally the Thursday before the show, Van Dam came out and said he was challenging for the title here. The fans are entirely behind Rob here as you would expect them to be. Feeling out process to start as Rob goes after Ion’s hair to take over. A few kicks to the face send Zema outside but he’s able to run away from Rob’s dive.

Back in and Rob ducks a clothesline but gets caught by a low dropkick. The ring is very loud here. Something like a Whisper in the Wind gets two for the champion but he gets crotched on the ropes and kicked back out to the floor. Rob takes a well deserved bow as this has been mostly one sided so far. The champ comes back in by diving through the ropes into a tornado DDT for a pair of near falls.

Rob gets shoved off the top and down onto the barricade, setting up a big flip dive from Ion. Zema throws him back in and blocks a monkey flip with a kind of hot shot. A missile dropkick gets two on Rob and the champion puts on an abdominal stretch to slow things down. That goes nowhere so they slug it out until Rob throws him into the air for a dropkick to the ribs. Rolling Thunder sets up the Five Star for the clean pin and the title.

Rating: C+. I liked this more than I thought I would with Ion being a perfectly adequate foil for the feel good title win. Rob broke a bit of a sweat here but there wasn’t a huge doubt as to who was winning. Ion had been champion for three months at this point and there wasn’t much else he could do with it so giving it to Rob to make him look like he still means something is a good idea.

Magnus says tonight is the biggest night of the year for everyone. Tonight, there is no more hiding behind Hogan for Samoa Joe and Magnus gets his TV Title.

TV Title: Magnus vs. Samoa Joe

Joe is defending. They used to be partners but Magnus went to the dark side after they lost the Tag Team Titles. Joe won the TV Title and Magnus wants a shot due to the tag team issues and Joe beating him in some BFG Series matches. Feeling out process to start with both guys sending the other to the corner. Magnus’ handshake offer is declined and Joe nails a hard big boot to the jaw. The Brit takes over with a clothesline and pounds away in the corner.

A knee to the face puts Joe down and a Michinoku Driver gets two. Joe gets all fired up and runs Magnus over before getting two off the running backsplash. There’s the STF followed by the Rings of Saturn but Magnus gets his foot on the ropes. Joe’s MuscleBuster and superplex attempts are broken up with a kick to the head and the top rope elbow gets two. Joe puts on the Clutch but Magnus climbs the ropes and flips over to escape. A chop block puts the champion down and he loads up the Figure Four, only to be countered into the Cluth to retain Joe’s title.

Rating: C-. Totally basic match here that could have been on any episode of Impact. Magnus just didn’t have it yet but would show some good improvement in the next year. At the same time, Joe was his normal self here as we’re in the middle of his latest push that wouldn’t go anywhere of note.

Roode says this hatred between him and Storm has been building for a year but ends tonight. I’m sure. Special referee King Mo won’t be a factor and Roode is going to send Storm home forever.

We recap Roode vs. Storm. As you might remember, Roode turned on Storm to win the World Title just after Bound For Glory 2011. This set up their huge showdown at Lockdown 2012 in Storm’s hometown after one heck of a build. Storm destroyed Roode for twenty minutes…..and then accidentally knocked him out of the cage so Roode retained the title.

Again, TNA had the chance to make a new star and just didn’t for….well I can’t say no apparent reason as Storm was banged up, but there was no reason to not give him the title there and then deal with the injury later. You give him the win and the fans get the moment. The reign itself doesn’t matter. See Mick Foley in 1999 for further proof. Anyway tonight it’s a street fight to blow off the feud, even though the cage match was the blowoff already.

Bobby Roode vs. James Storm

Street fight. MMA fighter King Mo is outside referee and comes out in a robe and crown. They stare each other down before Storm takes over with a bunch of right hands. A big backdrop puts Roode down and they head outside. Roode gets rammed face first into the apron but comes back with a shot to the face, only to stop and stare at Mo. Storm nails a Russian legsweep to send Bobby into the barricade to take over.

The Eye of the Storm through the announcers’ table doesn’t work as Roode slips down the back and sends Storm into the post to bust him open. He brings in a chair to knock Storm down even more as the blood is flowing. They head back inside with Roode bringing in a kendo stick, only to drop it to wedge a chair in the corner. Storm picks up the stick and nails Roode before putting a trashcan between Roode’s legs and driving it home with the stick.

An Elevated DDT onto the ramp knocks Roode silly but Storm is weak from the blood loss. A fan hands Storm a crutch for a shot to Roode’s ribs and Bobby is in trouble again. They slug it out with trashcan lids on the ramp and King Mo isn’t sure what to think. Roode finally goes down after a trashcan shot but he comes back with a spinebuster on the ramp.

They fight to the floor where Storm drinks a beer and takes Roode over to the announcers’ table. Bobby fights out of a suplex attempt which clearly wasn’t going to hit and spears Storm off one table and through another. That’s only good for two as Storm’s blood is all over Bobby’s back. He goes after Hebner but Mo gets in the ring and slaps Roode into Closing Time from Storm. The Last Call gets two and Storm is stunned.

Another Last Call is blocked and Roode sends him head first into the chair in the corner for two, even with a handful of trunks. Storm is sat on the top rope for a chair shot to the back….and it’s tacks time. Bobby loads up a superplex onto the tacks but gets shoved onto them instead, followed by a top rope elbow from Storm for two. A low blow puts Storm down and Roode brings in a six pack of beer. Storm returns the low blow and breaks the beer bottle over Roode’s head in the same move that started the feud. Bobby is out on his feet and the Last Call into the tacks gives Storm the pin.

Rating: B+. It’s a really good brawl but the Lockdown match really holds it back. This match comes off like Rock vs. Austin at Wrestlemania XIX: Storm wins here but it really doesn’t mean anything more than revenge. He lost the big match when everything was on the line and now looks like a choker. Still though, it’s a great bloody brawl with Storm looking like he went through a meat grinder. I have no idea why Mo needed to be here though as he didn’t do a thing.

Joey Ryan says he should have been given a contract before he was on Gut Check but Al Snow and the Gut Check judges thought they knew better than 87% of the Impact audience. He’s the opposite of Snow and they’re on his turf tonight. Politicking isn’t going to save Snow tonight because tonight, Ryan is bringing sleazy back to Bound For Glory.

That promo basically covered the recap. Ryan was on Gut Check and got 87% of the fan vote, but the judges said no. Joey showed up at some shows and tried to get on camera, even punching Snow over the barricade at one point. Tonight it’s Snow vs. Ryan for a contract.

Joey Ryan vs. Al Snow

Snow offers to start in an amateur position and easily takes Joey down for some slaps to the back of the head. They head to the corner with Snow dropping him with an elbow and hiptoss. Off to a headlock for a bit before Ryan nails a clothesline and rubs his own chest. Back up and a right hand knocks Snow’s head back for one of the most out there looks I’ve ever seen.

Some clotheslines drop Ryan and there are the headbutts to the chest. The Snow Plow gets two so Snow grabs Head from under the ring. The referee tries to take it away and gets crushed for his efforts. Joey kisses the Head for some reason but misses a baseball slide and gets caught in the ring skirt. Al grabs Head again but Matt Morgan returns through the crowd and kicks Snow’s head (not Head) off. Snow is thrown back in and Ryan gets the easy pin.

Rating: D. This doesn’t hold up very well though Snow hadn’t been active in a major promotion for years now. Joey was much better as a character or talker than an in ring guy but you had to get him on the roster somehow. The story for this wasn’t bad but the actual match didn’t hold up.

Bad Influence says they’re the team the women want to be with and the men just want to be. They’re going to run down their challengers tonight and wash it down with a delicious Appletini.

We recap the Tag Team Title three way. It’s basically good team vs. evil team vs. dream team.

Tag Team Titles: Bad Influence vs. Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez vs. Kurt Angle/AJ Styles

These teams have feuded over the titles all summer. Styles and Chavo get things going with Chavo getting two off a shoulder block. AJ takes him into the corner for the tag off to Angle and a nice reaction from the crowd. Kurt hammers away but Daniels tags himself in to take over on AJ. A fast series of tags gives us Hernandez suplexing AJ before Chavo gets two off a slingshot hilo.

Kaz tags himself in but walks into the drop down into the dropkick. Styles brings in Angle who gets driven into the corner, allowing Chavo to come in and work over Kaz in the corner. Chavo brings in Herenadnez for the over the shoulder backbreaker and it’s quickly off to Daniels vs. Styles. Daniels avoids a charge in the corner and Kaz nails a hard clothesline from the apron. Off to Kaz for a slingshot legdrop and a pelvic thrust at Guerrero and Hernandez.

Daniels hiptosses Daniels on AJ for two and we hit a full nelson on the mat. Back up and AJ escapes a monkey flip but avoids a tag from Hernandez and Chavo so he can Pele Kaz down. A double tag brings in Daniels and Angle with Kurt cleaning house. Kaz gets caught in rolling Germans but Daniels climbs his partner for a sunset flip, only to be countered into an ankle lock. Angle misses a charge into the corner but belly to bellies Kaz into Daniels for two.

Chavo and Hernandez are knocked back to the floor so Kaz can hit the slingshot DDT on Angle. Hernandez runs in and knocks Kaz across the ring, only to have AJ knock SuperMex across the ring. Daniels moonsaults out to take out Angle but turns around into a huge dive from Hernandez. AJ isn’t about to be one upped so he fakes a dive onto Guerrero and dives onto Hernandez and Bad Influence for a huge crash. Back in and Chavo tries the Three Amigos on Angle but gets caught in the Angle Slam.

Hernandez breaks up the moonsault and sets for the Border Toss, only to have AJ tag himself in and save his partner. Kurt misses a charge and falls out to the floor, allowing Kaz to slam Styles down. The BME gets two on AJ and Daniels is STUNNED. Chavo dives out to the floor to take Kaz out as AJ escapes Angel’s Wings and nails the moonsault reverse DDT on Daniels. Hernandez tags himself in and drills Daniels with a slingshot shoulder followed by the Border Toss and Frog Splash from Chavo for the pin and the titles.

Rating: B. This was a fun and fast paced three way but unfortunately it would start one of the least interesting title reigns in recorded history. Guerrero and Hernandez were really good in the ring but man alive would they drive things into the ground during their promos. The match was really awesome stuff though with some great spots and saves but it never got to that highest level.

The new champions celebrate post match.

We recap Tara vs. Tessmacher. This is the old mentor vs. mentee story with Tara teaching Tessmacher everything she knew, only to have Tessmacher win the title. Tara couldn’t beat her and got pinned, so she turned heel and set up a rematch. She also has a Hollywood boyfriend who is debuting tonight.

Knockouts Title: Tara vs. Miss Tessmacher

The cast of British Bootcamp, including Rockstar Spud, is in the front row. Taryn Terrell is referee, as she was for every Knockouts match for awhile. They stare each other down to start and Tessmacher gets a few rollups for two each on the challenger. A headscissors puts Tara down again but she comes back with a knee to the ribs and a baseball slide to send Tessmacher out to the floor.

Back in and Tara poses a lot but gets caught in a sunset flip for two. Tara charges into a boot in the corner and gets DDTed for two. Back up and Tessmacher goes nuts with clotheslines followed by a spining clothesline for two. A top rope hurricanrana puts Tara down but she avoids a top rope elbow. The Widow’s Peak gives Tara the title back.

Rating: C-. This was just a step above a standard Knockouts match, meaning it really wasn’t all that good. Like most other Knockouts, Tara can only win so many titles before they just stop meaning anything. At least Tessmacher was a fresh name in the division, but the post match stuff at least validates the new champion.

Tara introduces her Hollywood boyfriend: Jesse from Big Brother. Kissing ensues, accompanied by a big “WHO ARE YOU” chant.

We see Sting’s Hall of Fame induction from last night, making him the first member.

We recap Aces and 8’s vs. Sting/Bully Ray. The bikers have taken over the company and kidnapped Joseph Park. Hulk agreed to a tag match at Bound For Glory in exchange for Park’s release. It’s two TNA guys (Hogan can’t be one) vs. two Aces tonight. If the bikers win, they get full access to the Impact Zone but if they lose, they’re gone. At this point, we still don’t know any members of the group.

Ray volunteered to team with Sting to stand up for TNA, which would wind up being a huge plot point later on. The best part of this whole thing was when the Aces had Hogan in their clubhouse. Hogan agreed to the tag match and said he was one of the guys. The Aces boss: “Hogan, for once in your life this isn’t about you!”

Aces and 8’s vs. Sting/Bully Ray

No DQ and Ray has Sting face paint on. The Aces still have Park with them and he’s now conscious. Keep in mind that Park had figured out who the Aces’ leader was, or at least a lot about them, at this point. That’s also going to be a big plot point later on. It’s a huge brawl to start on the floor with the very big Aces quickly getting beaten down. The Bikers fights back with right hands as the fans are chanting for Hogan.

Ray and Sting double team we’ll say #1 with an elbow to the head and a piece of a table to the same spot. #1 comes back by whipping Ray into the steps and avoids a Stinger Splash against the barricade. They finally get inside with #2 working over Sting with uppercuts and a slam for two. Off to #1 with a clothesline for two as we see Park handcuffed to the barricade.

The bikers start double teaming but Sting no sells a slam and Hulks Up but the Scorpion on #1 is quickly broken up. A Death Drop out of nowhere plants #1 but Sting tags Ray instead of covering. Ray cleans house with elbows and a middle rope shoulder but #1 gets in a knee to the back from the apron. Ray comes right back with a double clothesline to drop the Aces and a splash gets two on #1.

Sting and #2 get in a fight on the floor and #1 brings in a chair. Bully kicks it out of his hands but a third member comes in with a low blow. He spits at Park so Joseph rips the handcuffs off the barricade and hammers away on the third guy. All four of the regular guys are in the ring now and we get a Doomsday Device on #1. There’s a Stinger Splash to #2 and Sting wants the tables. #1 pulls Sting to the floor for a brawl and a fourth Ace comes in for a spinebuster to put Ray through the table, giving #2 the pin.

Rating: C. There was only so much you could do with something like this the bikers were just faceless monsters so the match shouldn’t have been any kind of a wrestling clinic. That being said, Sting can only do so much in the ring so keeping it as a brawl was a good idea. On top of that, this was all about the story instead of the wrestling so they could do almost whatever they wanted out there.

The rest of the team came in for the beatdown until Hogan comes out. Like any villain group worth their salt, they sent attackers at Hogan one at a time so he can punch them all down. Eventually the guy that interfered is left alone with Sting, Ray and Hogan. The masked man is beaten down and Hulk unmasks him to reveal….D-Von, whose contract expired while he was still TV Champion and hasn’t been seen in months. Everyone is stunned that it’s D-Von, who says it was always him.

So yeah, TNA spent four months on this and the first thing we get is D-Von. The response to this was almost universally negative as it felt like a huge letdown. At the end of the day, D-Von is the quieter member of a tag team who won a mostly meaningless TV Title earlier in the year. For him to be the first reveal and in theory the leader of the team, the whole idea sounds laughable. Look at the visual you have: Bully Ray, Sting and HULK HOGAN against D-Von and a bunch of faceless fighters. Why in the world should I care about something like that? Naturally this story went on for another year because….well why not.

As for the two plot points, I think it’s safe to explain these as this show is two years old. First off there’s Park, who found out the identity of at least multiple Aces and 8’s members and maybe even the leader. He was free by the end of the match….AND HE DIDN’T GO TELL HOGAN? Hulk had wanted to talk to Park for weeks and apparently he didn’t say anything immediately?

It gets worse, because to the best of my knowledge, Park NEVER SAID ANYTHING. This brings us to the other plot point. Bully Ray signed up for this match and of course eventually became the leader of Aces and 8’s. They did a good job with the build, but people had it figured out by January or so. Again, that’s not a bad thing though and Ray had raised his game so much that he more than deserved the spot.

Austin Aries says he’s done everything he’s said he would do with confidence but tonight he’s going to do it with anger. He’s defending against Jeff Hardy tonight and had a really weak heel turn like a week before the show to give the match a story.

We recap Aries vs. Hardy, which is all about Jeff Hardy’s redemption after being high on something at Victory Road 2011. Aries said he was tired of being told what to do and now he’s going to be himself. He wanted to know why Hardy got all this special treatment and attacked Jeff on Impact, calling him a failure.

TNA World Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries

Aries is defending and parades around with the belt to start. Jeff shoves him into the corner before they hit the mat for some amateur stuff. They’re wrestling like they have a lot of time which usually makes for a good match. Back up and Aries looks annoyed as Hardy takes him into the corner. Jeff hammers away but gets caught in a headlock, only to counter into a headscissors. Aries escapes with a headstand but misses his dropkick.

The second attempt works a bit better though and Hardy is knocked silly. Aries chokes with a boot but goes outside for a victory lap instead of covering. Back in and Aries tells Jeff to wait a minute, earning him a suplex. Austin rolls to the floor and gets nailed with an ax handle to the back to put him down again. Jeff nails Poetry in Motion off the steps to drive Aries into the barricade and we go back inside.

The champ avoids a dropkick and gets two off a middle rope elbow. He hammers away in the corner and stops a quick splash attempt by raising his knees. A backbreaker gets another near fall and Aries puts on an abdominal stretch on the mat. Hardy fights up again as the fans are split on who to cheer for. The brainbuster is countered and Hardy nails the sitout front suplex. Aries takes him back down and gets two more off a slingshot spinning splash.

Jeff blocks the Last Chancery and picks Aries up for a powerbomb, only to drop him backwards for a big crash. A basement dropkick gets two for Hardy and the Whisper in the Wind gets the same. The Twist of Fate is blocked but Jeff kicks Aries to the floor and into the barricade. He avoids a big plancha though, setting up the suicide dive to send Hardy into the barricade again. It works so well that Aries hits it again but Jeff gets up at two.

Austin is busted open after ramming his head into the steel but it only makes him cover Jeff even harder. The Last Chancery goes on now and only lasts a few seconds as usual. Aries takes him to the ramp for a brainbuster but Jeff counters into a Twist of Fate attempt. That goes nowhere either as Aries sends him back inside with a clothesline. He slams Jeff head first onto the edge of the ramp and Hardy looks out of it. A missile dropkick makes things even worse but Jeff blocks the running corner dropkick.

The Twist of Fate out of nowhere gets two and Hardy goes up top, only to get crotched back down. A great looking jumping top rope hurricanrana puts Jeff down again and now the running dropkick connects. The brainbuster is only good for two and Aries is spent. With nothing left to throw, Aries tries a double stomp out of the Tree of Woe but Jeff rolls away. Another Twist and the Swanton give us a new champion.

Rating: A-. This was the kind of wrestling match they needed to close out the show but the angle and match felt tacked on after the previous stuff. Hardy winning the title back is a good story but Aries didn’t need to turn heel. This made him feel like a villain for Hardy to vanquish rather than a champion in a huge showdown. That being said, it’s a really good match with both guys taking everything the other had and surviving. Excellent main event.

Overall Rating: B+. This show holds up a lot better than I expected it to. The wrestling is good and again, the big reveal doesn’t bother me as much without spending all the months on the build. There’s more than enough stuff here to carry it with the street fight, Tag Team Title match and main event all being good to very good matches. As usual, when TNA cuts out the nonsense and just lets its wrestlers wrestle, good things happen. This show worked and I had a good time watching it, which is rare for TNA.

Ratings Comparison

Rob Van Dam vs. Zema Ion

Original: C

Redo: C+

Magnus vs. Samoa Joe

Original: C+

Redo: C-

Bobby Roode vs. James Storm

Original: B+

Redo: B+

Joey Ryan vs. Al Snow

Original: D+

Redo: D

Bad Influence vs. Chavo Guerrero/Hernandez vs. AJ Styles/Kurt Angle

Original: B

Redo: B

Miss Tessmacher vs. Tara

Original: D

Redo: C-

Sting/Bully Ray vs. Aces and 8’s

Original: C

Redo: C

Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries

Original: B+

Redo: A-

Overall Rating

Original: B

Redo: B+

Like I said, we’re at the point where not a lot is going to change.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/10/14/bound-for-glory-2012-if-these-are-the-memories-that-are-waiting-amnesia-doesnt-sound-that-bad/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPPH0WI

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Bound For Glory 2011
Date: October 16, 2011
Location: Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 3,585
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tazz

This is kind of the sequel to last year’s show as Hogan and Immortal have spent the year fighting Sting and tonight is TNA’s one chance to get Dixie Carter back in power. The other major change is the introduction of the Bound For Glory Series, a summer long competition where the winner get a World Title shot at Bound For Glory. Bobby Roode won the first Series and is challenging Kurt Angle in the alleged main event. Let’s get to it.

The opening video shows the main event guys getting ready for their matches. We also see clips of Hogan arriving and then turning on Dixie Carter to become the evil monster that he is. Sting wants to turn things around and set TNA right again, which he seems to do every few months. The World Title feud gets a token mention.

The announcers do their intros.

X-Division Title: Austin Aries vs. Brian Kendrick

Aries is defending and beat Kendrick for the title at No Surrender. The fans are entirely behind the champion as they counter each others’ wristlocks to start. Kendrick is sent to the corner and a shoulder puts him on the mat. Back up and Brian tries four headlocks which are countered into four headscissors on the mat. A dropkick puts Aries on the floor and things slow down.

Another dropkick sends Aries into the barricade and there’s a nice plancha. The fans loudly boo as this is one of the capital smark cities of the world. Back in and Aries takes his head off with a clothesline before a slingshot hilo and elbow drop get two. Off to a chinlock for a bit before Aries misses the Pendulum Elbow. Kendrick comes back with a forearm to the face and dropkick followed by an ax handle to the back of the head for two. A gutbuster and STO set up Aries’ Pendulum Elbow for two of his own but the running dropkick is stopped by Kendrick’s boot.

Brian gets two of his own off a tornado DDT and both guys are spent. Aries sends him out to the floor for a fast suicide dive, knocking Kendrick into the barricade. Back in and the running corner dropkick connects but Brian escapes the brainbuster with some knees to the head. A superkick nails Aries but he’s still able to counter Sliced Bread #2. Instead Kendrick goes up another rope and hits a super Sliced Bread #2, but Aries lands next to the ropes. Austin comes back in with the running dropkick and brainbuster to retain.

Rating: C+. Good opener here as Aries was kicking off his awesome run with the title. Beating Kendrick for the second time in a row was the best way to get him off to a good start. Kendrick was more than able to hang in there and Aries had to break a bit of a sweat to retain here.

The Angle daughters are hanging out with Traci Brooks. Karen Jarrett comes in and tells them to go find their dad (meaning Jeff Jarrett) before ripping into Traci for being near them. Karen is going to referee a match tonight and Traci has to stay in the back.

We recap RVD vs. Jerry Lynn. They’re longtime rivals and Jerry is jealous that he doesn’t get the attention that Rob gets. It could have something to do with Rob winning every high profile match between them (except one in ECW that no one remembers).

Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam

Full Metal Mayhem but you win by pinfall. Feeling out process to start with Rob going after the arm but having to kick out of a rollup attempt. Some clotheslines and a spinning kick drop Jerry but he’s back up with a dropkick to break up Rolling Thunder. More back and forth basics until they botch what looked to be a cross body from Lynn to put both guys on the floor. Instead Van Dam just falls on him before they roll to the floor. That was rather awkward.

Rob is sent into the barricade but misses a moonsault press off the barricade. It’s already ladder time as Rob is favoring his knee. He’s able to pick up a chair but Jerry dropkicks the ladder into his face to keep control. Back in and Rob cross bodies Jerry onto the chair for two before putting the ladder up in the corner. That goes nowhere so he lays the ladder on Jerry for Rolling Thunder and two. Van Dam grabs the chair but Jerry dropkicks it back into his face for two more.

Lynn misses a middle rope legdrop by only hitting the ladder but he’s still able to break up a Van Daminator by throwing the ladder at Rob’s head. A suplex puts Jerry on the ladder and a Lionsault onto Lynn on the ladder gets two. Rob’s rolling monkey flip is countered by a middle rope clothesline as they keep up the idea of knowing each other so well. Lynn rolls outside and finds another ladder but leans it up against the barricade. He escapes a suplex onto the ladder and sunset bombs Rob off the apron and (kind of) onto the ladder for a big crash.

Back in again and Rob is able to kick out at two, giving Lynn even more frustration. Now the Van Daminator connects but Lynn is up at two. With nothing else to do, Rob puts the ladder on top of Jerry in the corner and nails the Van Terminator with a chair to knock Lynn out cold. Rob writhes in pain on the mat for a bit before covering for the pin.

Rating: C. This was entertaining enough but it felt like stuff we’ve seen before. The Van Terminator was a good ending but they never got into that other gear that they were shooting for. Lynn losing makes sense here but it’s the same ending we’ve seen so many times before in this feud. There weren’t even that many near falls.

They hug post match.

Dixie Carter arrived earlier.

Video on Crimson who is undefeated coming in and only lost the BFG Series because of an injury at Samoa Joe’s hands. The same thing happened to Matt Morgan when he went after Joe, so it’s a triple threat tonight.

Crimson vs. Samoa Joe vs. Matt Morgan

Joe gets double teamed as you would expect him to be and Morgan nails the corner elbows. The Samoan comes back with some chops to Morgan and right hands to Crimson before getting caught between the two of them. Crimson gets low bridged to the floor and Joe goes after Morgan’s knee to put him down. All three get inside again but Joe sends his opponents out to the floor, followed by the suicide elbow to take Morgan down.

Crimson and Joe slug it out as Matt gets up top in a hurry to take Crimson down with a cross body. Back in and Crimson slugs it out with Joe again before a high collar suplex gets two on the Samoan. Morgan gets back in and a double shoulder puts Joe down. Now Crimson and Morgan get in a shoving match until Joe low bridges Morgan to the floor. He kicks Crimson in the head and loads up the MuscleBuster until Morgan makes the save. Morgan misses a Carbon Footprint though, allowing Crimson to spear Joe down for the pin.

Rating: D+. This didn’t do anything for me and felt like the triple threat formula to the letter. Crimson winning makes sense, but they could have made him look more dominant. That’s the problem with most of his streak: it felt more like he was surviving instead of beating guys, which takes away from its impact.

Bully Ray says he doesn’t need an introduction but introduces himself anyway. He’s been exploiting this city for fifteen years and has seven cars and five houses because of it. Anderson has no business in a falls count anywhere match with him, so screw Anderson and screw Philadelphia.

Bully Ray vs. Mr. Anderson

Hardcore. Anderson was part of Immortal and won the World Title but was thrown out about a month later. Ray had cost him his rematch and this is about revenge. The brawl starts fast and Anderson gets an early advantage with some shots to the face and a swinging neckbreaker. Ray escapes the rolling fireman’s carry and kicks Anderson in the face before slowly walking around the ring. He loudly chops away in the corner but Anderson kicks him in the side of the head for two.

We get our first weapon as a fan hand Anderson a sign wrapped around a Dead End sign. A beer to the face has Ray in even more trouble and Anderson sends him face first into the barricade. Ray sends him into the steps to come back for two and it’s already table time. They leave the table at ringside and head to the stage for a suplex from Ray. He reaches up and gets Anderson’s mic to announce that he’s from New York City. Like any good villain though he takes too much time and allows Anderson to get in a cheap shot to take over.

They fight to the back with a bloody Ray missing a shot with a pipe. A piledriver on the concrete gets two on Anderson and they fight back into the arena. Anderson gets the better of it and unhooks a piece of the barricade. That takes too long as well though and Ray runs him over with a clothesline. We get another table brought in and set up near the corner, but Ray gets backdropped onto the barricade.

Anderson misses a Swanton and hits the barricade as well, setting up the Bubba Bomb through the table for a very close two. Ray’s middle rope backsplash lands on the barricade (does that EVER hit?) and Anderson gets two more off a mic check onto the steel in a very close near fall. They head outside again where a trashcan shot puts Ray on the table. Now the Swanton connects with Ray but the table doesn’t break, so the fans boo him instead of worrying about a broken neck. The Mic Check through the table gives Anderson the pin.

Rating: B. Better match than the Full Metal Mayhem match here with better high spots which actually connected. Ray is good for a brawl and Anderson can make things look very good as well. They overused the barricade a bit here but it’s better than having ten table spots in a row. Solid brawl here.

Eric Bischoff is in the back with mostly inept referee Jackson James. The big reveal is that James is Bischoff’s son and no one has figured it out until now. Eric warns him that tonight is going to get ugly and Sting is going to be taken out on a stretcher.

The announcers are shocked.

Knockouts Title: Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky vs. Winter vs. Mickie James

Winter, a kind of lesbian vampire who might be sleeping with Angelina, is defending. No real story here other than a bunch of qualifying matches put together by Knockouts Boss Karen Jarrett. Karen is refereeing here too. We have tags again here so it’s Mickie vs. Winter to get things going. The champ grabs an armbar to start before James comes out of the corner with a headscissors and neckbreaker for two.

Madison comes in with what looks like a handkerchief to Mickie’s face as Karen keeps screeching. Velvet comes in with some facebusters to Madison but Karen is busy tying her shoe. Everything breaks down for a second as Madison and Winter get in an argument. Karen tells the two of them to go fight Mickie and Velvet so we have a double tag. Mickie suplexes Velvet but Karen won’t tag to reenforce what we already knew.

The girls get frustrated at the refereeing before slugging it out. Winter and Madison trip them to the floor, earning them a beating back inside. The champ cleans house until Mickie comes in to take her out. Jarrett yells even more so Winter sprays her blood in Karen’s eyes. The MickieDT plants Winter as Traci comes out to take over. Velvet hits In Yo Face on Madison for the pin and the title.

Rating: D. This was REALLY annoying as there was almost no structure or flow to it. Most of the match was spent on Karen, meaning the big moment of Velvet finally winning the title barely meant anything. The wrestling didn’t get any focus because the whole thing was about the annoying referee. I understand that was the point back in the day, but it really doesn’t hold up.

Kazarian hopes Daniels and Styles will beat on each other and then shake hands but that doesn’t seem likely.

We recap Styles vs. Daniels. Christopher beat him in a fluke when AJ tripped on the ropes and then bragged about it for months. This triggered a heel turn so tonight it’s an I Quit match. Most of the talk here is about their history rather than the match here.

AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

I Quit. Styles takes him down and hammers away before Daniels does the same with an STO. AJ won’t say it so he nails Daniels in the head with the mic for the same result. Off to an Indian deathlock with a chinlock but Daniels bites the hand to escape. Back up and the drop down into the dropkick puts Daniels down on the floor and AJ follows him out with a big dive.

Christopher tries to crawl under the ring but gets dragged out with a toolbox. AJ avoids a wrench that is launched at his head but then has to avoid being stabbed with a screwdriver. The screwdriver gets stabbed into the turnbuckle before they head to the apron to trade forearms. Daniels grabs AJ for a Blue Thunder Bomb onto the apron but AJ still won’t quit. Back in and Daniels chokes away before hitting the BME onto AJ’s back. Daniels stays on the back with a half crab but AJ makes the ropes.

Back up and Daniels nails a backbreaker to stop AJ’s comeback. With Styles bleeding a bit from the forehead, Daniels opens a chair across AJ’s throat and sits down on it to talk some trash. He says he’s going to get everything that has been handed to AJ in TNA and will tell AJ’s wife that Styles’ last words were he loved her. Daniels gets up and tells AJ’s wife to take the kids out of the room while he murders Styles.

AJ gets to his feet and avoids a charge in the corner. The moosault into the reverse DDT plants Christopher and there’s the Pele followed by the springboard forearm. Back up and Daniels plants him with the release Rock Bottom, only to miss the BME. He shouts DIE AJ but charges into the Pele and Styles Clash. Now it’s time for a chair but AJ picks up the screwdriver instead, making Daniels quit to avoid pain ala JBL at Judgment Day 2005.

Rating: B-. Good brawl with a lame ending. The problem with something like a screwdriver is the same as it was with Janice last year: you can only tease it so far before you have to stop things. These two are always worth a watch but I think the fans were starting to get sick of the combination. It would get even worse in 2012.

AJ leaves after a highlight package but Daniels lays him out with Angel’s Wings on the ramp, because this feud MUST CONTINUE!

Here’s a ticked off Jeff Jarrett with something to say. He’s feuding with Jeff Hardy and has told him not to show up here tonight, but there are rumors that Hardy has been seen in the city. No one here wants anything to do with Hardy and the Jarretts took a poll of fans earlier today to prove it. He wants Hardy out here right now for the beating he deserves.

Cue Hardy who is still being forgiven for the mess at Victory Road 2011. Hardy says he has one thing to say to Jarrett and the fight is on. Security quickly comes out to break it up but they keep going after each other. Agents can’t break it up either but they finally get Jarrett out of the ring.

Long recap of the Hogan vs. Sting feud. This covers Hogan debuting, Sting accusing Hogan of screwing over the company and being right, and the last year of Hogan and Bischoff running roughshod over the company. Sting went after Hogan for months and Hogan finally agreed to put up the company against Sting’s career. Two notes here: first, this story made Dixie Carter a regular thing on TNA TV. Second, Sting spent 2010 saying the real Hogan would screw over TNA. Then he spent 2011 saying the real Hogan was a good guy.

Hulk Hogan vs. Sting

Bischoff’s son is referee. Sting is insane here and wears a Hulkamania shirt to the ring. Hulk is in street clothes. The bell rings and here comes Flair as we keep looking at Dixie Carter in the front row. Sting grabs a headlock to start but Hogan shoves him away and Hulks Up. That gets Hogan a crotch chop so Hulk punches him down and puts on a chinlock. Sting gets sent outside but is quickly back inside to have his back and eyes raked.

Hogan throws him outside for low blows and chops from Flair before Hulk starts biting at Sting’s forehead. The beating goes on for awhile until they head back inside where Flair slips Hogan a foreign object. The shots bust Sting open but Sting comes back with right hands. He stops the beating and goes after Flair, stealing the foreign object to cut Hogan open as well. A pair of Stinger Splashes set up the Scorpion Deathlock and Hogan gives up, forcing referee Jackson James to call for the bell.

Rating: D+. This one would fall under the category of “what else were you expecting?” At the end of the day, TNA basically exists to make Sting look good so this really shouldn’t be a surprise. Someone young probably should have gotten the rub from Hogan, but Sting clearly needed this spot instead right?

Immortal comes out to destroy Sting with chairs as Abyss is shown watching from behind the curtain. Jackson James takes one of them away, turning face about an hour and fifteen minutes after he turned heel. Bischoff hits him with a chair, starting the most unwanted face push in the history of ever.

Sting crawls over to Hogan and begs for help, because if there’s one thing more important than making Sting look good, it’s making Hogan look good. Hogan makes the big face turn and helps Sting clean house, because two bloody guys in their 50s beating up about seven guys armed with chairs makes perfect sense. Posing ensues and of course the old WWF crowd eats it up. It’s a cool segment for the moment, but this was basically all about Hogan and Sting instead of doing anything for TNA long term.

We recap Angle vs. Roode, which is all about Roode’s road to the title. Roode talks about sacrificing everything to become champion and Angle says Roode isn’t ready. Bobby has been facing his Fourtune teammates to make sure he’s ready and has never been more polished. It’s a good idea but the lack of making it personal hurts it.

TNA World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode

Alleged main event. We don’t even get big match intros for this one. Roode quickly takes him down for the Crossface but Angle bails to the floor, showing off a heavily taped thigh. Back in and Angle drives a series of knees and shoulders into the ribs for two. Angle rolls a few Germans and goes up for the moonsault, only to have Roode run the ropes and German Kurt from the top.

Roode wins a slugout and scores with a running clothesline before getting two off a Blockbuster. He goes up again but Angle runs the ropes as well and superplexes Roode down. Bobby snaps on the Crossface though and Kurt is suddenly in trouble. Angle reverses into the ankle lock but Roode rolls him into the Crossface. He stops Kurt’s second escape attempt but the third is countered into the Angle Slam for two. Back to the ankle lock but Roode kicks away and nails the spinebuster.

A fisherman’s suplex gets a VERY close two on Angle and a rollup gets the same. Angle Slam is countered but Kurt moves the referee around for a low blow. The second Angle Slam connects for two and it’s time to roll more Germans. Roode reverses another into the Crossface but Angle makes a rope.

Kurt comes back with a spear to stay on the ribs for two. He goes up but dives into the Crossface again. They counter each other’s finishers until Angle nails yet another Slam and grabs the rope for the pin. The rope really didn’t matter as Roode wasn’t even trying to kick out at the end, though his arm looked to be under the rope.

Rating: B-. If there is a dumber ending to a main event on a major show, I can’t think of it off the top of my head. This was entirely set up to be the biggest moment of Roode’s career and then they have him get pinned like that? It completely deflated the crowd and makes the whole thing feel like a waste of time.

However this show has an interesting perspective because of the time that has passed. What we didn’t know here was that Kurt was actually hurt (and made worse in this match) and had to take time off. Therefore, later in the week, Angle dropped the title to James Storm in about 90 seconds on Impact. Storm, WHO WASN’T EVEN ON THIS SHOW, would then drop the belt to Roode two weeks later when Roode turned heel, despite losing the biggest match of his career just a few weeks earlier.

This is a case of TNA trying to shock the crowd and screwing up huge in the process. More than maybe anything else, TNA has issues with making its own stars. Roode was primed and ready to become the breakout star here, but instead it’s Angle getting yet ANOTHER accolade and win that he doesn’t need before before he takes two months off. Sometimes you need to go with Austin at Wrestlemania XIV and do the obvious ending instead of doing something surprising to set up something new. TNA has yet to get this idea.

Angle is helped out to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Score one for the old guys! That’s what this show felt like: revenge of the veterans and screw everyone else on the roster. There’s enough good stuff here to watch but it really drives me crazy to see TNA screw stuff up for the sake of pushing guys like Sting, Angle and Hogan AGAIN. You have an incredibly talented roster but these major shows are here to give the old guys another thrill instead of building up someone new. That’s one of TNA’s biggest problems over the years: they don’t look to the future and it’s held them down forever.

There’s good stuff on the show though as nothing is really bad and most of the things are more than worth watching. The time actually helps in a way here as the show doesn’t feel deflating as I don’t have any build to make me care about the matches. As a stand alone show it’s entertaining, but the emotion is what carries a show to higher levels. Live it was a great show with a bad ending. Three years later it’s a pretty good show with an ending that makes you shake your head and say “they did it again.”

Ratings Comparison

Austin Aries vs. Brian Kendrick

Original: B-

Redo: C+

Jerry Lynn vs. Rob Van Dam

Original: B

Redo: C

Samoa Joe vs. Crimson vs. Matt Morgan

Original: C

Redo: D+

Bully Ray vs. Mr. Anderson

Original: C+

Redo: B

Mickie James vs. Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky vs. Winter

Original: D+

Redo: D

Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles

Original: C

Redo: B-

Hulk Hogan vs. Sting

Original: D+

Redo: D+

Bobby Roode vs. Kurt Angle

Original: C

Redo: B-

Overall Rating

Original: B+

Redo: C+

I’m not sure what I was thinking on the original. It’s not that good.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/10/16/bound-for-glory-2011-hogan-is-a-face-and-kurt-retains-wait-what/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPPH0WI

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Bound For Glory 2009
Date: October 18, 2009
Location: Bren Events Center, Irvine, California
Attendance: 2,400
Commentators: Taz, Mike Tenay

This is a lot of people, myself included, really liked as AJ Styles was back to being serious again and had won the World Title in a five way match the previous month. Tonight he’s defending against Sting because WHERE WOULD WE BE WITHOUT STING IN THE MAIN EVENT??? Other than that we have a four way Full Metal Mayhem (TLC) match for two sets of Tag Team Titles because TNA felt the need to bring in Japanese Tag Team Titles. Let’s get to it.

The opening video shows most of participants of the main events, set to a hip hop song because almost every video is anymore.

We get quick soundbytes hyping up the bigger matches. AJ wants to fight Sting to prove that he’s the best. Sting has been hinting that it’s going to be his last match.

Zack Wylde of Black Label Society plays a rock version of the Star Spangled Banner. This goes about as well as you would expect it to.

X-Division Title: Suicide vs. Daniels vs. Amazing Red vs. Homicide vs. Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley

Ultimate X with Red defending. Red is a guy that was around near the beginning of TNA and did some very impressive flips, earning the adulation of Don West. Don is now managing the champ and was known to climb on the announcers’ table and cheer for him. Sabin and Shelley won a match on the preshow to get in this match. Suicide is a video game character who started appearing on TV, portrayed by Daniels or Kazarian (the latter here). Homicide is part of the World Elite stable, which is a group of international wrestlers, led by Eric Young, who feel they haven’t been treated right.

It’s a mad scramble to the corners to start but no one can get anywhere. Everyone goes after everyone with Homicide getting the biggest advantage by taking down Shelley and diving through the ropes to take out Daniels. Suicide rolls the champion over and dives onto Homicide but the Guns work together to set up a suicide dive on…uh Suicide actually. Red kicks Shelley but gets dropped by Daniels, who goes for a climb. Red isn’t done yet and hurricanranas Daniels onto everyone else in the match.

Back in and Sabin busts out a giant swing on Red but Shelley adds a dropkick to the champ’s head to make it even worse. Daniels attacks both Guns and Homicide goes for a climb, only to have Suicide springboard up to the ropes and make a save, only to get pulled down into a Gringo Cutter. Sabin holds Daniels and Homicide for a top rope double stomp from Shelley.

The Guns continue their control by working over Red but the champion escapes a Doomsday Device with a Sliced Bread #2 instead of a clothesline and takes Sabin down with a hurricanrana. Suicide comes back in but Homicide suplexes him down. Homicide drops the champ and goes up but Daniels pulls him down and nails a Death Valley Driver. Red goes for the ropes but slowly comes back down for some reason, only to go back towards the belt until Suicide pulls him back down.

Now it’s Daniels and Sabin going up and kicking at each other while hanging in the air, eventually knocking each other down for a big crash. Sabin nails a tornado DDT on Daniels and Shelley nails a Sliced Bread #2 on Suicide. We get the Parade of Secondary Finishers, followed by Shelley, Red and Suicide hitting a huge Tower of Doom out of the corner with Suicide taking the worst of it (and kicking Daniels in the face on the way down).

Suicide throws Daniels down but Red kicks him in the face and gets caught by a corkscrew dive. Sabin goes nuts until Suicide kicks him off the top rope. Suicide goes right back up and hits the Flux Capacitor on Sabin, setting up Daniels’ Best Moonsault Ever. Daniels and Suicide climb onto the top of the structure above the cables and Red follows after them.

The fans ask them not to die so Daniels and Suicide tease suplexing each other off. They slap each other until Daniels carefully climbs down onto the X but Suicide does the same and they both fall with Daniels landing on his head. Tazz rightfully shouts CHECK HIM as Red slips down through the treeses as well and grabs the title before someone dies.

Rating: C+. That Daniels bump had me terrified when I saw it live and it doesn’t get any easier here. Thankfully he was ok for the most part. I can’t emphasize how much better this was than last year’s opener with just six men involved. It gives the match a chance to breathe and you can keep track of what’s going on. This was a good opener but the Daniels fall made it hard to sit through at the end.

The Beautiful People (now without Angelina but with Madison Rayne and Lacey Von Erich) insult Lauren by calling her JB. They’re coming for the Knockouts Tag Team Titles because the belts were started for the Beautiful People. Madison talks about the lineup of the team switching but says now they’re going to accessorize with the Tag Team Titles.

The Knockouts Tag Team Champions Taylor Wilde and Sarita (a newcomer from Mexico) say they’ll take on all comers. Sarita speaks some Spanish and Wilde is confused.

We run down the card for a bit to fill in time.

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: Sarita/Taylor Wilde vs. Beautiful People

Madison and Velvet are challenging. Lacey kisses the referee before the match, convincing him to change places with Earl Hebner, who may or may not be sleeping with Madison. Earl comes out and ejects Lacey for her efforts and Taylor rolls Velvet up for two. Everything quickly breaks down and the champions clean house on Sky until the challengers finally double team Sarita to take over.

They lift Sarita into the air and let her crash down for two but she comes back with a kick to the face. Hot tag brings in Taylor who destroys the People, setting up dropkick from Sarita to send Madison into a German suplex for the pin. Too short to rate but the girls looking good is about the only positive here.

We recap the Legends Title match. The Legends Title was introduced about two weeks after last year’s Bound For Glory and became the midcard title TNA had needed for years. The story here is Eric Young wants Hernandez to join World Elite, which is feuding with the Main Event Mafia. Mafia leader Kurt Angle put a hit on Eric Young for $30,000, so Young went to Mafia member and Legends Champion Kevin Nash and offered him $60,000 to take out Hernandez, who Young was scheduled to face here. I had to watch the video twice to have this make sense.

Young and Nash are in the back where Eric goes off about Hernandez and Nash doesn’t seem to care as long as he gets paid.

Legends Title: Kevin Nash vs. Eric Young vs. Hernandez

Hernandez runs them over to start and sends Young flying out to the floor. All three go to the ramp and slug it out with Hernandez getting double teamed to slow him down. SuperMex will have none of that and nails Nash before hits a backbreaker on Young. Nash finally gets back up and drives knees in to Hernandez’s ribs. Eric is willing to come in and get a few shots of his own as this is turning into a handicap match.

Hernandez fights back again but Nash breaks up a suplex on Young. The fans are all over Young as he helps Nash with the boot choke in the corner. A back elbow stops another Hernandez comeback and Young tries to steal the pin, which doesn’t seem to be in the plan. Things calm down and Nash hammers on Hernandez in the corner. Hernandez somehow pulls himself to the top and hits a missile dropkick to put Nash down. SuperMex tries to clean house but Nash knocks him face first into the middle buckle.

Another double team is broken up and Nash is down, leaving Young to get caught in midair for a sitout powerbomb and two. Back up and Nash misses a clothesline, allowing Hernandez to dive over the top to take Young down. Eric comes back in and drops a top rope elbow on Hernandez before lowering Nash’s straps for him. Young picks up Hernandez and throws him head first into Nash’s crotch, allowing Eric to dive in and get the pin for the title. Nash’s shoulder was about a foot off the mat.

Rating: C+. I liked this more than I thought I would with a good formula and a nice swerve at the end. They had to get the title on Young somehow due to how much heat he had and that was as good a way as any other. Nice little match here and Nash going after the money is perfect for him.

The Main Event Mafia, Beer Money Inc. and the British Invasion are brawling in the back. Douglas Williams calms things down and says they should be focusing on Team 3D. Wrestlemania X7 is referenced as the Full Metal Mayhem match is TNA’s TLC match.

IWGP Tag Team Titles/TNA Tag Team Titles: Beer Money Inc. vs. British Invasion vs. Team 3D vs. Main Event Mafia

This is a TLC match with two sets of titles above the ring. These teams have been feuding forever and this is the final showdown. The British Invasion (Douglas Williams and Brutus Magnus) and the Main Event Mafia (Booker T. and Scott Steiner) hold the IWGP and TNA titles respectfully coming in.

It’s a huge brawl to start with Team 3D getting beaten down in the corners. We head outside with Steiner using a ladder on D-Von. The Brits are smart enough to go in to try and climb but stop for a handshake, allowing Beer Money to make the save. The fight is getting too busy to keep track of as Beer Money destroys Williams in the ring and Steiner fights with I believe Magnus by the stage. Booker comes in to clean house but Roode stops his climb attempt.

Booker ax kicks Roode and Steiner is choking D-Von with a cable. The fans go nuts for the Spinarooni but Booker takes too long climbing, allowing Beer Money to take him down with a Last Call and DWI (powerbomb/neckbreaker combination). Steiner gets back in and destroys everyone in sight, even busting out Frankensteiners and superplexes for the Brits. Booker’s wife Sharmell comes out to check on Booker’s knee as Scott suplexes everyone he can find.

Scott goes up and we realize that the ladder needs to be about four feet higher. The Brits drop Steiner with a double neckbreaker and Booker is taken out on a stretcher. What’s Up nails Steiner and it’s Table Time. Team 3D destroys the Brits for stealing their table gimmick and Beer Money takes a beating of their own. Ray hands Zack Wylde (remember him?) a chair to blast Storm before D-Von puts Williams through a table in the ring. The real What’s Up makes Magnus writhe in pain and we get a lot more tables brought in.

Beer Money gets chokeslammed through tables but Steiner comes in with a chair to drop Team 3D. He brings in a ladder but is still too short to bring it down, allowing Team 3D to slam him through a table. The belts seem to be lowered a bit when it’s clear that this match is never going to end.

Both members of Team 3D climb up at the same time but Rhino of all people comes in to destroy them with chairs. D-Von pulls the IWGP Title down anyway to win the titles for he and Ray but takes a beating from the chair. The Brits come in and lay out Rhino and Team 3D even more before climbing up to to go after the other belts. Beer Money makes another save by shoving one ladder over and superplexing Magnus off the other.

They take too long getting up though and Magnus nails them both with a chair. Storm comes back with beer to Magnus’ face and a huge sunset bomb off the ladder. Williams hits James with a chair but Roode knocks him off. The third British Invasion member Rob Terry pulls Roode down and slams him through a table before lifting Williams up the ladder for the TNA Tag Team Titles. That’s the same way TLC II ended at Wrestlemania X7.

Rating: B+. This was a solid brawl, even though Scott Steiner was down WAY too long towards the end of the match. They did a good job of keeping all of the teams involved for the most part, which is the hardest thing to do in a match like this. Booker being taken out of the match was the way to write him off TV as he and Sharmell were leaving TNA.

We recap the three way for the Knockouts Title. Tara (formerly Victoria in WWE) debuted and wants the title, ODB is champion and Awesome Kong is Awesome Kong.

Knockouts Title: Awesome Kong vs. ODB vs. Tara

ODB is defending. Tara has her spider Poison with her which never worked for me. Kong grabs the belt to start and runs ODB down, only to have Tara slug away at the giant. Tara and ODB’s double team goes badly but the both avoid a middle rope splash. They nip up at the same time and shoulder Kong back down. A double suplex puts her down a third time but the normal sized girls get in an argument over who should cover.

ODB takes Tara down with the fall away slam and chops in the corner but Tara comes back with the Tarantula. Kong gets back up for the save until Tara moonsault presses both of them down. It doesn’t seem to bother Kong who runs Tara over and chokes the champion in the corner.

Tara seems to get in a fight with some fan and leaves (more on this later), allowing ODB to hit a Samoan drop on Kong for two. Kong slams her back down as Tara is back to save ODB from a middle rope splash. There’s the Implant Buster to ODB for two and Kong is SHOCKED. She brings in a chair but splashes it instead of ODB, who retains the title with ease.

Rating: D+. The match was dull for the most part, but the Tara thing is interesting in how stupid it was. The fan was the wife of former UFC Champion Randy Couture, who Tara wanted to work a match against. Why this is supposed to be interesting isn’t clear and it never lead to anything. Also pay no attention to the fact that this wasn’t mentioned on TV, at least not here.

Matt Morgan says his match with Angle is business and personal.

Samoa Joe vs. Bobby Lashley

This is a submission match for what should be obvious reasons and Joe is Mafia. Lashley has bad ribs coming in but is still able to power Joe into the corner. Some slaps to the face tick Lashley off so he spinebusters Joe down and tries an armbar. Joe tries a kick to the ribs but opts for a leg bar instead. That goes nowhere as Lashley rolls out and takes Joe down again before pounding away in the corner.

Lashley gets sent outside for a breather, drawing a LOUD Lashley Sucks chant. Joe starts going after the ribs and the referee goes down, allowing Joe to hit Lashley in the ribs again. Back to the floor and Joe nails the suicide dive before driving Lashley into the barricade. They get back inside and Lashley gets caught in an abdominal stretch with an elbow in the ribs. He powers out with a hiptoss and is quickly booed out of the building.

A powerslam puts Lashley down but Joe goes for an armbreaker for some reason. Lashley blocks the hold so Joe hammers away in the corner. A full nelson slam drops Joe and the fans just rip into Lashley and cheer Joe louder. Joe just destroys him with spinning Rock Bottoms but Lashley sweeps the leg and puts on a side choke for the quick win.

Rating: D-. WOW this was bad for Lashley. He barely did anything and the fans just let him have it. He might be the guy who looked the best on paper and then never played out in the slightest. His 2014 run has been FAR better when they made him a killer, but the face runs were disasters. Joe was just so unmotivated at this point and I can’t say I blame him. He feuded with the Mafia for months then joined them because Samoa Joe has to be in heel stables for some reason. One other thing of note: this was the first non-title match as well as the first one on one match of the night.

Oh and one more thing: STOP TRYING TO TURN WRESTLING INTO MMA! IT’S CALLED WRESTLING FOR A REASON!

Mick Foley says if Abyss wants to be the biggest hardcore star ever, he has to earn it. He wanted Abyss to be his protege but now wants to hurt him to prove a point. Foley is evil here if that’s not clear.

Abyss vs. Mick Foley

Dr. Stevie (Richards) is guest referee and if Abyss uses tacks he’s disqualified, even though this is Monster’s Ball. Foley jumps Abyss from behind with a barbed wire bat and drags the monster to the stage. He climbs the tower on the set and this can’t end well. Abyss follows him up but gets knocked off and goes through the stage. Foley drops his running elbow with the barbed wire bat into the hole and both guys are down.

Stevie congratulates Foley as they walk to the ring. Abyss climbs through a new hole in the ramp and runs Foley over before heading to ringside to get some weapons. The monster bridges a barbed wire board between the ring and barricade before just smashing Foley with a trashcan. Another barbed wire board is brought in but Foley grabs a double arm DDT to plant Abyss on top of it. The barbed wire bat is raked across Abyss’ head as the violence really gets going.

Foley goes after the arm with the barbed wire and we see a lot of blood on Abyss’ forehead. He’s still able to send Foley into the third barbed wire board in the corner but misses a charge, catching himself in the board. Foley shoves him onto the board on the mat and drops an elbow to crush him between the boards for two.

Now Mick busts out the tacks but gets grabbed by the throat. Stevie won’t let Abyss chokeslam Mick onto them, so Abyss Shock Treatments the referee. Creepy chick Daffney comes out and slides Foley a taser of all things, which explodes as he shocks Abyss. This brings out a regular referee to count three….but he starts a four count because Abyss doesn’t kick out in time.

An attempt at a barbed wire Socko results in Foley being sent into the board, but Stevie gets up and nails the replacement referee. Daffney goes up top but gets chokeslammed through the barbed wire board at ringside (off camera of course). A Black Hole Slam puts Stevie into the tacks and a chokeslam onto the barbed wire is enough for the pin, with Abyss grabbing Stevie’s hand to make him count the three.

Rating: D+. This is what happens when TNA just tries too hard and it stops working. The tacks thing was stupid but at least Abyss got the win and gets put over as a result. The problem here is this was basically all barbed wire, which is a good visual if you use it once or twice, but then it’s just numbing. Also the fall through the stage was way out of place with the rest of the match.

Angle says he had AJ beat and the time ran out. This has nothing to do with his match tonight.

We recap Angle vs. Morgan. Angle had been stringing Morgan along and promising him a place in the Mafia but then screwing him over. Morgan became a killer and cost Angle the title at No Surrender, setting up this showdown.

Kurt Angle vs. Matt Morgan

Kurt has his borderline homeless man beard going here. Angle runs to the floor to start and cuts off the fans’ dueling chants in the process. They do the same sequence again before Morgan just grabs Kurt by the head and throws him over the top. Back in and Morgan busts out the rapid fire elbows in the corner before hitting a kind of reverse chokeslam to send him face first into the buckle. Kurt goes to the eyes and sends Matt outside, only to get caught diving off the apron. Morgan sends him back first into the post and stands very tall.

Back in and Matt hits a high cross body for two, only to have the Carbon Footprint hit the buckle. Angle chop blocks the big man down and gets his first advantage. There’s a Figure Four and Morgan is suddenly in big trouble. Morgan finally turns it over, sending Angle to the ropes for the break. Some clotheslines have Angle in trouble and a side slam gets two as Matt’s knee seems fine.

Kurt goes back for it to stagger the big man but Morgan counters a cross body with a fall away slam. Chokeslam gets two but Angle counters the Hellevator into the rolling Germans. That must be punishment for not selling the knee. The Angle Slam is countered and a big boot (dude come on) gets two. A second attempt at the Slam gets two and the ankle lock goes on. Morgan kicks him away and avoids a charge into the corner, setting up the Hellevator for two.

We get the required tombstone attempt from a big man but Kurt counters into the ankle lock. Matt kicks away and nails a clothesline for two but the fans think he sucks. Morgan goes up top so Angle can run the buckles for the superplex. A frog splash gets two for Kurt and he goes back up, only to get caught on Morgan’s shoulders. Possibly playing off the knee from earlier, Angle grabs a victory roll for the pin.

Rating: C+. It’s an entertaining match as they tried the main event style, but it has a few problems. To begin with, Morgan wouldn’t sell the knee for more than about five seconds, so the point of the match kind of died halfway through. This brings us to the big problem: Angle did not need to win this match. He’s by far the bigger star and has been established for years while Morgan hasn’t proven he can win the big one yet. Here’s what makes it even worse though.

On Impact, Angle basically disbanded the Mafia because Morgan proved that Angle was wrong about the younger generation. The story is EXACTLY the same if Morgan wins and in some ways is even better. On top of that you get a new star (because TNA just had SO many of them running around) who had potential, but instead it’s Angle because this company is all about paying homage to old names.

We don’t get much of a recap for the main event. AJ was about to leave wrestling due to all of his failures, but Sting gave him a great pep talk and AJ won the World Title at No Surrender. Styles wanted to give Sting a title shot and Sting has implied it might be his last match. The problem here, again, is that the main event is all about Sting instead of making a new star.

TNA World Title: Sting vs. AJ Styles

Both guys are good here. Style takes over with a quick hiptoss but Sting comes back with one of his own. Another hiptoss sends Styles to the apron but he springboards back in for no contact. A shoulder puts Styles down but he avoids the Sharpshooter and we get a standoff. AJ scores with a slam and drops a knee for two before Sting whips him upside down into the corner.

Back up and a clothesline puts AJ on the floor. This is still in the grounded stage as neither is wanting to do anything big. Sting lets AJ get back in clean and they reset. An enziguri drops Sting and a nice suplex gets two. Sting comes back with bulldogs and a big backdrop but doesn’t follow up. AJ gets back up so Sting bails to the floor, only to sidestep a diving AJ, sending him into the barricade.

Sting misses a Stinger Splash against the same barricade though and both guys are down. Back in and Sting misses another splash but stops a charging AJ with a boot in the corner. They exchange tombstone attempts until AJ gets planted for two. Back up and the champ’s springboard forearm gets the same before he loads up the moonsault into the reverse DDT. Sting counters into the Death Drop but can’t cover (ignore his leg being on top of AJ).

A Stinger Splash and another Death Drop gets two so it’s Scorpion time. AJ screams a lot and grabs the ropes but Sting Hulks Up. He puts AJ on the top but gets knocked down with a headbutt. AJ falls off the top but manages to Pele Sting from the apron. The springboard splash is enough to retain AJ’s title.

Rating: C+. The match was decent enough but there was almost no emotion here. They were trying to make this feel like a big deal for Sting, because if there’s one thing we’ve learned so far, it’s that BOUND FOR GLORY IS ALL ABOUT HIM. There were some nice sequences in here but it felt like the buildup for something bigger which never came.

AJ calls Sting back to the ring and Sting tells him it’s his (AJ’s) time. Sting says if he just lost his last match, he’s glad it was to someone like AJ. The fans say please don’t go but Sting says he isn’t sure what he’s doing (“and that’s not kayfabe.”) but the fans have made him want to stick around forever. His music hits and we’re quickly done.

Overall Rating: B-. Most of the show is good but nothing on here feels special. The main event is really lacking and felt far more about Sting than Styles, which defeats the purpose of giving someone a rub. It’s a show that is entertaining enough if you watch it but there’s nothing worth going out of your way to see. Once Sting got out of the way for a bit, AJ was able to take off as champion and just own every main event he was in for a few months.

Ratings Comparison

Amazing Red vs. Suicide vs. Daniels vs. Homicide vs. Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley

Original: B

Redo: C+

Beautiful People vs. Taylor Wilde/Sarita

Original: D+

Redo: N/A

Eric Young vs. Kevin Nash vs. Hernandez

Original: D-

Redo: C+

Main Event Mafia vs. British Invasion vs. Team 3D vs. Beer Money Inc.

Original: B

Redo: B+

Awesome Kong vs. Tara vs. ODB

Original: C-

Redo: D+

Bobby Lashley vs. Samoa Joe

Original: D

Redo: D-

Mick Foley vs. Abyss

Original: C-

Redo: D+

Kurt Angle vs. Matt Morgan

Original: B-

Redo: C+

Sting vs. AJ Styles

Original: B

Redo: C+

Overall Rating

Original: B

Redo: B-

It’s about the same for the most part but the Legends Title match was WAY better than on another viewing.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/10/16/bound-for-glory-count-up-2009/

Bound For Glory 2008
Date: October 12, 2008
Location: Sears Center, Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Attendance: 5,000
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

There are some new faces in TNA at this point and for once we have a young guy as the World Champion. Samoa Joe won the World Title from Angle at Lockdown and is defending it here against…..oh of course it’s Sting. The idea here is Sting and his fellow veterans are tired of the young guys not respecting them and they’re not going to take it anymore. Let’s get to it.

The opening video focuses on the history of Chicago and gangsters while showing some of the big stars in old time suits. The Mafia is clearly here but hasn’t been named yet. Most of the big matches get a focus and Christian is currently a free agent in the upcoming stable wars.

Steel Asylum

Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Curry Man, Jimmy Rave, Jay Lethal, Johnny Devine, Petey Williams, Shark Boy, Sonjay Dutt, Super Eric

You should know who everyone is here. Super Eric is Eric Young as a superhero and is part of the Prince Justice Brotherhood along with Shark Boy and Curry Man (Christopher Daniels as an Indian curry company mascot). This is inside a big red cage with a dome on top. There’s a hole in the top of the dome and the first person to climb up and out gets an X-Division Title shot at some point in the future. Since there are ten men in the ring, it’s almost impossible to tell what’s going on.

Everyone goes after everyone to start with the Brotherhood and the Guns taking over early on. Shark Boy gets beaten up in the corner and then Devine gets the same treatment. The abused start fighting now as Sharky stomps on Johnny in the corner. We get a six man suplex with the Brotherhood all getting suplexed at the same time. Naturally they sell way too long for a suplex but that’s what you get in big spots like that.

Petey hooks his Russian legsweep on Dutt but gets pulled down when trying to escape. Curry Man goes up but Shelley makes a save. Alex’s climb goes just as well with Shark Boy leg sweeping him down. Super Eric drops Devine with a neckbreaker off the middle rope before Lethal and Dutt slug it out on the top rope. Curry Man takes Sonjay down with the Tokyo Dangerous backbreaker off the ropes. Lethal hurricanranas Rave off the top and Shelley adds a frog splash for good measure.

Eric hits a Death Valley Driver on both Devine and Dutt at the same time but the Guns stop him from leaving. The Guns take everyone down until Petey nails Shelley with a Canadian Destroyer. Shark Boy hits a double Stunner off the top to plant Shelley and Petey at the same time. The parade of finishers begins and Devine is the last man standing. Dutt gets up to stop his escape attempt though and Curry Man takes everyone down so he can do his dance. Curry almost gets to the exit but Dutt pulls him down. Lethal hammers Dutt in the ribs and climbs out for the win.

Rating: C. These matches are fun but they get really tiring after awhile. You can only see these spots for so long before you want some kind of storytelling or coherence after awhile. The match was entertaining but I’d much rather have like five guys in there at most. It would make things flow so much easier instead of being the mess that it was.

We run down the card.

Cornette is WAY too happy to be at Bound For Glory when newcomer Mick Foley comes in. Jim tries to convince Foley to show up at Impact in Vegas when the Beautiful People come in to complain about M&Ms. Foley gets in some jabs that go way over their heads but they don’t care due to him not being beautiful.

We recap the six person tag. Basically it’s beautiful vs. ugly and not much more.

ODB/Rhaka Khan/Rhino vs. Cute Kip/Beautiful People

This is the Bimbo Brawl and Rhaka Khan is big, strong and horrible. Cute Kip is Billy Gunn. Traci Brooks is guest referee to help deal with the girls. Detroit Tiger Curtis Granderson is at ringside and Kip isn’t happy with him stealing the spotlight. ODB and Love yell at each other to start until ODB slaps her in the chest. Off to Velvet who gets forearmed back into the corner before Rhino comes in to work on her arm.

Kip saves Velvet from a Gore and the guys get in a chase sequence. Velvet tries to slap Rhino again but it’s quickly off to Khan vs. James. Kip is 6’5 and Khan is looking him right in the eye. They both try chokeslams with Kip getting the better of it, only to have Khan grab him below the belt. Angelina comes in for some shouting and is quickly dragged into the corner for a slam from ODB.

Velvet distracts Traci so Kip can nail ODB with a makeup bag to give Love two. Some elbows get ODB out of a Velvet chinlock and it’s off to the guys to speed things up. Rhino takes control with right hands and a belly to belly as everything breaks down. The girls fight on the floor and Rhino blocks the Fameasser with a Gore for the pin.

Rating: D. Well at least the Beautiful People looked good. The wrestling was as bad as you would expect it to be and the guys had to save it more than once. When Billy Gunn is the one making your match look better, it’s clear that you have a problem. They were trying with the Knockouts here but the idea wasn’t quite working yet. The Beautiful People were still relatively new at this point and hadn’t found their groove yet.

Consequences Creed (with the GORGEOUS Lauren) says he debuted a year ago and doesn’t like the way X-Division Champion Sheik Abdul Bashir talks about this country. After he wins the title tonight, the glory will belong to America.

X-Division Title: Consequences Creed vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir

An Iraq War veteran with horrible leg injuries gets to introduce Creed. Sheik talks trash about him and Creed is livid to start. The champ is sent outside for a big flip dive, followed by Creed getting on the announcers table to scream at the announcers. A high cross body gets two on Bashir but he finally gets in a shot and sends Creed off the apron and into the barricade. Back in and Creed gets tripped down for two and we hit the reverse gutwrench.

Creed fights up but charges into an elbow in the corner. They chop it out until Creed misses a dropkick and crashes onto the mat. The champ hooks a bodyscissors on the mat before switching off to a kind of sleeper. Creed escapes but gets put right back in the sleeper. Back up again and the dropkick knocks Bashir down to put both guys on the mat. Consequences starts his comeback with forearms and a backdrop for two.

A gutbuster gets the same and a superkick drops Bashir. Creed nips up but takes too long getting to the top. Bashir crotches him down and nails a top rope hurricanrana for two. A TKO is counters by a rake of Creed’s eyes and a rollup with a handful of rope retains Bashir’s title.

Rating: C-. The match wasn’t bad but it’s totally forgettable. There wasn’t all that much to the division at this point but Bashir was a good enough choice for a heel champion. Creed is a guy that looks good on paper but never really has backed it up in the ring. This was ok but I doubt I’ll remember it in about five minutes.

Foley is telling JB a story about the Cell when the Kongtourage (Kong and Raisha Saeed) comes in. They have some demands but Foley recommends a visit from Yerple the Clown. He takes out his phone to call her and the girls leave.

There isn’t much to recap for the Knockouts Title match. Taylor Wilde is champion and there are two challengers.

Knockouts Title: Taylor Wilde vs. Awesome Kong vs. Roxxi

One fall to a finish. Wilde, a cute blonde, took the title from the monster Kong as an amateur out of the crowd. Roxxi is now just a girl with short hair and isn’t a voodoo queen anymore. Roxxi and Wilde double team Kong to start before “hitting” a double dropkick to send her out to the floor. Taylor goes after Roxxi and slams her down for two but Kong is back in for the save. Saeed pulls Roxxi to the floor and it’s Kong and Wilde all alone. A victory roll gets two for Taylor but Roxxi comes back in and sends the champ out to the floor.

Kong is livid and goes after Roxxi with some chops to the neck, only to miss a splash in the corner. A swinging neckbreaker drops Kong and a top rope double knee gets two. Roxxi hooks Taylor in a kind of torture rack but Kong kicks both of them down. Kong crushes Roxxi with a cross body for two and the Implant Buster gets the same. Awesome goes up top but Taylor kicks her out to the floor. Roxxi hits a big boot for two on Wilde but walks into a German suplex to keep the title on Taylor.

Rating: D+. I miss Taylor Wilde. The match was nothing special due to not having enough time and could have been on any given Impact. They should have gone with Wilde vs. Kong again here instead of the three way as Roxxi was just there to keep the title on Taylor while protecting Kong. Nothing to see here but I’ve seen worse.

AJ Styles welcomes Foley to TNA but Team 3D comes in and talk trash to Styles. Ray is in flannel so we get ECW and WWE jokes that a lot of the younger fans don’t get. Foley mocks Team 3D for bringing up how many titles they’ve won. Cornette comes in and doesn’t say anything of note. I’m not going to ask about the masks on the wall.

Tag Team Titles: Beer Money Inc. vs. Matt Morgan/Abyss vs. Team 3D vs. LAX

Beer Money (Roode and Storm, managed by Jacqueline) are defending, this is Monster’s Ball and Steve Mongo McMichael is guest referee. Storm is wearing a hat with two beers attached in a somewhat funny bit. Abyss has a story going on here as he’s been in therapy to stop using weapons. Everyone gangs up on the champions to start before it breaks off into a slow paced brawl. LAX works over Storm in the ring with Hernandez catapulting him into a Homicide clothesline.

Roode comes in to try and save his partner but Hernandez knocks him out to the floor. Homicide hits his flip dive through the ropes, setting up a big plancha from Hernandez. Ray nails Hernandez with a trashcan lid in the aisle as Homicide elbows D-Von in the jaw. It’s fork time and D-Von’s head gets carved up. The monsters finally get involved as Abyss comes in for Shock Treatment on Homicide.

Ray hits Abyss low with a cheese grater before slicing Abyss’ skin open. Ray of course licks the cheese grater because he’s a bit sick. It’s Hernandez back in now but Ray runs him over and nails a splash in the corner. A superplex drops Hernandez and Ray’s delayed cover gets one. Roode comes back in with a Blockbuster and a VERY slow two count. We get our first taste of Matt Morgan who suplexes both champions before loading up Old School on Roode. Storm charges back in so Morgan dives over Roode for a cross body.

D-Von plants Roode but gets chokeslammed by Abyss. He loads up one on Roode as well but Storm distracts him with the bag of tacks. McMichael takes the bag away for no apparent reason so Storm puts on his beer football helmet. He challenges McMichael (a former NFL player) to get in a three point stance. Roode has a football from somewhere and they actually hike it with Steve running Roode over with a clothesline. Homicide covers and MAN ALIVE does Mongo count slow.

The fans want tables but get a huge dive off the top with Morgan taking everyone out in a huge crash. Team 3D singles out Abyss with various trashcan related objects. Ray finds a staple gun to go after Abyss’ cut forehead. Abyss fights back until Team 3D lackey Johnny Devine comes out with a kendo stick to slow the monster down. D-Von and Devine load up a table in front of the stage…and we have lighter fluid. Devine lights it up and a double chokeslam puts Abyss through the table. I believe that was on TNA highlight reels for a long time.

Morgan chases Roode back to ringside but he walks right into a Last Call from Storm. Beer Money celebrates but Hernandez nails them with a kendo stick. Team 3D is nowhere in sight for some reason so Homicide dropkicks both champions down. Storm dives into a sitout powerbomb from Hernandez but Mongo’s slow count means it’s only two. Hernandez plants Roode and Homicide’s top rope splash gets the same. The Gringo Cutter plants Storm but Jacqueline breaks up the count at two because she can’t just go away.

The Carbon Footprint nails Hernandez but Homicide rolls out of the Hellevator. Team 3D crawls out from whatever hole they fell into and call for the tables, only to get blasted by Hernandez. He sets up a table in the ring and pours the tacks on top for good measure. Ray pops back up and the 3D puts Hernandez through the table, but Storm spits beer in D-Von’s face, allowing Roode to steal the pin to retain the titles.

Rating: B-. I liked the match more than I thought I would and it’s definitely a step up over some versions of this match they’ve had over the years. The champions stealing the pin was a good thing and the big men doing crazy high spots worked. McMichael has somehow managed to be useless as both a wrestler and a referee, which is pretty impressive when you think about it. Even Danny Davis had some value.

We recap Booker T. vs. Christian Cage vs. AJ Styles. This is again about respect with Booker representing the old, Styles representing the new and Cage representing the yet to pick a side. Both guys are trying to get Cage to join their side and both say the other is lying to him.

Booker T. vs. Christian Cage vs. AJ Styles

Booker has his wife Sharmell, who is carrying a briefcase. Styles and Cage drop Booker to start before Christian gets two on AJ with a sunset flip. Styles goes to the apron but his springboard is blocked with a knee to the ribs. Booker is back up to kick Christian to the floor so Styles hits a huge springboard moonsault to take the Canadian down. AJ is stunned as well so Booker takes Christian back inside for two.

Some knees to the ribs and a spinning kick get the same for Booker and we hit the chinlock. Back up and a side kick gets two on Christian as AJ really should be back in by now. Booker nails him on the apron and Christian grabs a small package on Mr. T. for two. Christian chops away at Booker and elbows his way out of a Bookend. They clothesline each other down and take their time getting up, allowing AJ to hit the springboard forearm on Booker.

The drop down into the dropkick puts Booker on the floor but Christian escapes the Styles Clash. He also blocks the moonsault into the reverse DDT but, after knocking Booker off the apron, Styles tries again and the reverse DDT gets two on the Canadian. Now Booker comes back in for a double clothesline and some chops for Styles but the ax kick misses. AJ busts out a cross armbeaker of all things and kicks Christian away when he tries a save.

A headscissors sends Christian into the corner but Booker grabs a Bookend for two on AJ. Booker loses his focus and busts out a Spinaroonie, earning him a forearm from Christian. Christian loads up his own Spinarooni but AJ uses his knee to springboard at Booker. An implant DDT lays out Styles for two and Christian loads up a superplex, only to have AJ slam him down.

The Spiral Tap misses though and Booker comes back with a double ax kick. That’s good for two on both guys so Booker goes up top. Christian crotches him down and runs over AJ for two. Both guys go up to superplex Booker but it’s Christian with a super Unprettier to Styles. Booker nails an ax kick to pin the distracted Cage.

Rating: C+. Good stuff here as it actually felt like a three way instead of the same stuff we see in triple threats over and over. The generations story was a good idea and the Main Event Mafia would be very entertaining in the coming months. That is until they beat it into the ground but we’ll get to that later. I liked the match more than I thought I would so it was a nice surprise.

We recap Angle vs. Jarrett. Angle wanted to face Jeff for respect but Jarrett said no. Kurt brought up Jeff’s daughters after Jeff’s wife passed away and that’s more than enough to get a southern man’s dander up. This is Jeff’s first match in two years after he took a long hiatus to deal with his wife’s cancer. Foley is guest enforcer, which has a story of its own as Angle took offense to Jarrett calling Foley the biggest talent acquisition ever in TNA.

Angle says this isn’t one on one tonight.

Jeff breaks down in tears talking about what’s been going on lately.

Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett

Kurt takes him down with ease and laughs at him before holding Jeff on the mat with a headlock. Back up and Jeff scores with an armdrag before putting on a headlock of his own. Angle takes him into the corner but Jeff speeds things up and scores with a dropkick before clotheslining Angle out to the floor. A nice plancha takes Angle down again but Jeff misses a second dive off the apron and hits the barricade.

Back in and Jeff sends him into the ropes for the running crotch shot and we get a strut. Jeff loads it up again but walks into a huge clothesline to put both guys down. We hit the chinlock on Jarrett for a bit before he fights up and gets two off a rollup. Angle nails him with another clothesline before snapping a suplex for a few near falls. Back to the chinlock as the fans are split.

Jeff gets up again but Angle sends him into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs. He tries one too many though and goes shoulder first into the post, allowing Jarrett to nail a quick DDT. They slug it out with Jeff getting the better of it and taking over with some clotheslines. Angle finally busts out the belly to belly for two but the Angle Slam is countered into another DDT for two.

A top rope superplex gets two on Angle and both guys are in trouble. There’s the Figure Four in the middle of the ring and Angle screams in pain. He finally rolls over to the ropes and is ok enough to roll some Germans for a few two counts. There go the straps but Jeff armdrags out of the Slam. He tries a sunset flip but gets caught in the ankle lock to make Jeff scream for a change. Angle keeps teasing him at the ropes so Jeff rolls through instead.

The Angle Slam gets two and Kurt is getting really frustrated. Jeff avoids the moonsault and Jeff is starting to feel it. The referee gets decked and the Stroke plants Angle for two with Foley coming in to count. Foley tries to help the referee and Angle hits Jeff low. Mick tells Kurt he can’t use a chair so Angle blasts him in the head with it. He does the same to Jeff but Foley pulls the referee out at two. Foley busts out Socko to take Angle down and a guitar shot is enough to finally put Kurt away.

Rating: A-. This was REALLY good because they let two professionals do their thing. People forget how good Jarrett really is and when you put him in there with someone like Angle, it’s going to be magic every time. There was not way you could put Angle over here but they did a great job of teasing it all throughout the match. Awesome match and one of the best ever in the series.

We recap Sting vs. Joe. In case you didn’t catch it the first 948 times, it’s about RESPECT.

TNA World Title: Sting vs. Samoa Joe

Joe is defending. We get a video on Sting during his entrance, which lists him as 6’2, even though the tale of the tape said 6’3. They really should have that kind of stuff in sync. Joe’s video doesn’t say much and he’s the heel here because only an idiot would try to turn Sting heel. Joe sends Sting right to the floor to start before nailing the suicide elbow. They head into the crowd with the champion in control and hammering away on Sting.

Joe dives out of a luxury box with a dropkick to Sting in the aisle for a scary visual. They head back down towards the ring with Sting getting in a few shots to take over. Well as much as you can take over in the middle of the crowd. Joe comes back with a running big boot to drop Sting and they finally make it back to ringside. The fans are against Joe as he hits a quick enziguri in the corner.

Sting fights out of the MuscleBuster and hits a tornado DDT (that’s a new one) followed by a top rope splash for two. The champion comes back with his Boston crab into an STF into the Crossface into the Rings of Saturn but Sting gets a boot on the ropes. A powerslam gets two for Joe and frustration is setting in. Sting hits a pair of Stinger Splashes and loads up the MuscleBuster but has to opt for a fisherman’s buster instead.

Joe pops back up and is like old man please before going off on him with strikes. A Scorpion Death Drop is no sold by Sting and there’s another Stinger Splash. He loads it up again but charges into a release Rock Bottom out of the corner. The fans are getting back into Joe. The champ hammers away on Sting and the veteran can barely get up.

Joe hammers away and tells Sting to come on, so here’s Joe’s mentor Kevin Nash. A DDT plants Sting (and draws some swearing) so he goes to get the bat. Nash takes it away though and the Samoan hammers away. The referee has to dive out of the way and Nash nails Joe with the bat. The Death Drop gives Sting the title. Again.

Rating: C+. Just in case you forgot what Sting winning the World Title at Bound For Glory looked like. The match was getting better at the end but Nash brought it down a bit. I get what they were going for and it worked well enough, but I’m almost always going to want a clean ending over something like this. Somehow Joe hasn’t gotten the title back in six years.

Nash walks out immediately to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The show is good though it had some problems. The opening stuff is a cross between messy and forgettable but the last few matches range from good to excellent which is what you want for a big show. Sting getting the title again made me roll my eyes back then and it still does so here. I like the Mafia idea, but was there NO ONE else you could put in that spot? Well not really actually but have him win the title somewhere else so Bound For Glory isn’t hogged so much.

Ratings Comparison

Steel Asylum

Original: C+

Redo: C

Bimbo Brawl

Original: F+

Redo: D

Sheik Abdul Bashir vs. Consequences Creed

Original: D

Redo: C-

Awesome Kong vs. Roxxi vs. Taylor Wilde

Original: D

Redo: D+

Beer Money Inc. vs. Abyss/Matt Morgan vs. LAX vs. Team 3D

Original: B-

Redo: B-

Booker T. vs. AJ Styles vs. Christian Cage

Original: B-

Redo: C+

Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett

Original: B

Redo: A-

Samoa Joe vs. Sting

Original: C

Redo: C+

Overall Rating

Original: B-

Redo: B-

Someone other than Sting? Please?

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/10/15/boun-for-glory-count-up-2008-sting-wants-respect/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPPH0WI

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Bound For Glory 2007
Date: October 14, 2007
Location: Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Georgia
Attendance: 4,000
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

This is one of the last shows in TNA’s glory years as things would start to trend down after this era. Not that the show would get bad, but the company cooled down a bit and lost its best chance of being actual competition to WWE. Part of that might be the main event: Sting is again challenging for the World Title, this time against Kurt Angle. Let’s get to it.

The opening video talks about becoming an immortal icon. Like Hulk Hogan. Seriously.

LAX vs. XXX

This is an Ultimate X match and the winners get a Tag Team Title shot at some point in the future. XXX is Elix Skipper and Senshi who teamed together with Christopher Daniels and are the heels in this one. Homicide hammers on Skipper in the corner to start while the other two fight on the floor. Senshi dives back in to take down Hernandez and Skipper stops Homicide from pulling down the X.

Hernandez gets back up and starts throwing people around like only he can. An over the shoulder backbreaker drops Skipper and Homicide goes for the X again, only to have Senshi climb the ropes and kick Homicide down. Senshi cranks on a dragon sleeper to hold Hernandez against the ropes but the big guy just powers out of it. He shrugs off a bunch of strikes from Senshi and bull rushes him out to the floor. Homicide adds a big flip dive and LAX is in full control again.

Skipper tries to go up but Hernandez just stares him all the way up. Elix gets pulled down and the big man starts climbing but can’t pull the X down, allowing Skipper to dropkick him down. Senshi goes up and is pulled down into a powerbomb, leaving Skipper and Homicide to go to the top of the tress. Elix knocks Homicide back down and hits a HUGE dive onto Hernandez.

Homicide and Skipper go across the ropes but Homicide pulls him down in a huge neckbreaker to put all four guys on the mat. It’s Homicide and Senshi up first with Senshi tying him in the Tree of Woe for a sick looking Warrior’s Way. Both guys head to the floor and Hernandez Border Tosses Skipper over the top to take both of them down. Hernandez goes up and grabs the X for the win.

Rating: B. This took some time to get going but once they just started hurting each other it got awesome in a hurry. LAX was a great combination and they both worked well together here. XXX was hanging in there but at the end of the day, neither of them were any sort of match for Hernandez’s power. Good high spot fest to open the show.

We see Kurt Angle, Karen Angle and Kevin Nash arriving earlier today.

The announcers run down some of the card we’ve already paid for.

Christian cuts off his lackeys AJ Styles (a clueless putz at this point) and Tomko (a serious muscular guy) to complain about Joe keeping him out of the Fight For The Right tournament. AJ says he’s happy to be home.

Fight For The Right Tournament Stage One: Reverse Battle Royal

Jimmy Rave, Lance Hoyt, Havok, Shark Boy, Petey Williams, Kaz, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Sonjay Dutt, Kip James, BG James, James Storm, Eric Young, Robert Roode, Chris Harris, Junior Fatu

Oh sweet goodness this match. Let this one sink in for a minute. You have 16 people starting on the floor. The first 8 people to get inside the ring are going to have a battle royal, meaning the 8 that stay on the floor are all eliminated. Then the battle royal takes place and the order of elimination determines the seedings for a standard single elimination tournament with the first person out being the #8 seed. The final two people in the battle royal have a singles match for the #1 seed and the first person out being the #8 seed. The winner of THAT gets a World Title shot in about a month. You might want to read that one again.

You should know most of the people in this. Rave is a small guy, Havok is Johnny Devine and Junior Fatu is Rikishi. It’s a big brawl to start and it’s almost impossible to tell what’s going on. Fatu quickly makes it into the ring as a lot of other people start fighting on the apron. Kaz brings Roode in with a Flux Capactior (C4 2000) and Shelley is in soon after them. Hoyt gorilla presses Young on the apron but Eric rakes his eyes to get in. Lance throws Havok onto a bunch of guys and hops in. Storm sneaks in right before Harris can get in for a nice heel move.

So the eight people that couldn’t get in are gone and it’s time for a battle royal. Young throws Storm out in about three seconds and Fatu cleans house. Fatu drinks a beer and spanks himself a few times before nailing Young in the face. The big man cleans house again and crushes four guys in the corner at the same time. Young hides behind Hoyt to avoid a Stinkface. Everyone gangs up on Fatu for the elimination and we’re down to six.

The Motor City Machine Guns (Sabin and Shelley) double team Hoyt but kick him down instead of out. We get a freaky looking submission where the Guns tie Roode and Young’s legs together and put holds on both of them. Hoyt is back up and the Guns go after him again, only to have Kaz eliminate Shelley. Roode and Kaz are sent over the top but hang onto the ropes. It’s Kaz being put out to get us down to Sabin, Roode, Young and Hoyt.

Lance goes up for a moonsault but gets shoved out to the floor and we’re down to three. Shelley goes up but Roode throws Young into him for the elimination. So it’s Roode vs. Young with Eric getting a few rollups for two each. He misses a moonsault but counters Roode’s fisherman’s suplex into a small package for the pin.

Rating: F. TNA just had a reverse battle royal, a regular battle royal and a match to determine the seedings for a tournament for the #1 contender ship. You could run for MONTHS off these ideas and TNA just did them all in about fifteen minutes. This isn’t even factoring in that the tournament was a mess with Young losing in the first round and Christian facing Chris Harris in the second round despite not even being in the first round. Kaz would win the tournament and of course lose the title shot, making this thing entirely pointless. Somehow this was the less complicated and messy of the two versions of this tournament.

We recap Team Pacman vs. AJ Styles/Tomko. So you might remember Pacman Jones. He’s the guy that played in the NFL and wasn’t allowed to go anywhere without security around him for fear he might get arrested. At one point he was involved in a shooting where a MMA fighter/pro wrestler was shot and paralyzed, earning him a year long suspension. TNA, being the bumblers that they are, MADE HIM A TAG TEAM CHAMPION. Ignore the fact that his NFL team banned him from wrestling, making Team Pacman Ron Killings wrestling handicap matches and winning the Tag Team Titles. YOU THINK I CAN MAKE THIS STUFF UP???

Ron Killings says Rashad Lucius Creed (Xavier Woods) is taking Pacman’s place. You know, like a real tag team.

The Angles argue some more.

Tag Team Titles: Team Pacman vs. AJ Styles/Tomko

Tomko is one half of the IWGP Tag Team Champions here. Creed is dressed like Apollo Creed from Rocky. Styles and Creed get things going with AJ nipping up out of a wristlock. A headscissors puts Creed down but he comes back with a running forearm and clothesline for two. AJ knocks him into Tomko and Creed looks terrified. Killings comes in and gets pounded down in the corner, only to come back with a spinning forearm for two. We get the backflip into the splits followed by the side kick to drop Tomko and it’s back to Creed.

Tomko gets tired of being in trouble and kicks Creed’s head off. He tags out to Styles but stays in to hammer on Creed even more because he’s just that mean. AJ scores with the drop down into the dropkick but Creed comes back by climbing up Styles’ back and drops an elbow on AJ’s spine. Back to Killings who gets kicked in the face as well, allowing for the tag off to Tomko.

Everything breaks down and Creed suplexes AJ into the corner. Creed and Tomko go to the floor so Killings dives on both of them. Styles busts out a HUGE springboard shooting star to take everyone out. Back in and Pacman gets on the apron with a handful of money but Killings grabs a rollup, sending the money flying (making it rain you see). Hebner grabs the money instead of counting, allowing Tomko to come back in for the Tornadoplex (spinning neckbreaker from Tomko and a side slam from AJ) for the pin and the titles.

Rating: C. This got better near the end but I still think TNA should feel ashamed by having Pacman Jones be part of their organization. The guy may have reformed later on but at this point he was the scum of the earth but he had a name so TNA felt the need to hire him for a publicity stunt. That never felt right and it still doesn’t here. It also didn’t help that the title change was about as obvious as you could get.

Karen Angle tells Kurt to keep the title so she can have money. Kurt doesn’t listen so Karen tries to get Nash to talk to him. Kevin references Scott Hall instead.

We recap the X-Division Title match. Not much to say here. Lethal is champion, Daniels wants the belt.

X-Division Title: Jay Lethal vs. Christopher Daniels

Lethal is Black Machismo and defending. They trade shoulders to start with no one getting anywhere so Lethal tries another and runs into a shot to the face. The announcers are already ignoring this match to talk about Sting vs. Angle. Back up and a hurricanrana sends Daniels to the floor, followed by a big suicide dive to take him down again. Daniels is up first and Rock Bottoms Lethal onto the barricade before slamming him down onto it as well.

They go back inside where Daniels slaps on a Crossface for a bit. Back up and Lethal gets two off a quick fisherman’s suplex. A superkick misses but Daniels can’t hook the Angel’s Wings. Lethal drops him with a facebuster but springboards right into a nice Death Valley Driver. BME gets two and Daniels is really starting to get frustrated.

The announcers respond to a THIS IS AWESOME chant and finally ignore the World Title match to talk about what’s going on in front of them. Jay comes back with a quick dragon suplex for two but can’t follow up. Daniels goes up top and gets crotched when loading up a hurricanrana, only to have Jay miss the top rope elbow. Instead they head back up with Lethal nailing the Lethal Combination off the top for the pin.

Rating: C+. The match was decent but the commentary really dragged it down. I know the X-Division isn’t as important as it used to be but could you at least pretend you’re paying attention to it? The Lethal Combination was good but this was step down from what the title had done at the previous entries in the series.

The Steiners respect Team 3D but are out to prove they’re the best.

We recap the dream tag team match. Scott Steiner was a heel but was injured in Puerto Rico, leaving him very close to death. Doctors saved his life and now he’s come back as a face, setting up this match which I believe was supposed to happen at Slammiversary.

Team 3D vs. Steiner Brothers

This is a 2/3 tables match, meaning both members have to go through (though it’s not elimination), likely so neither team has to job. It’s a brawl to start of course with all four guys fighting anywhere but the ring. Rick (who looks HORRIBLE) gets in the ring to hammer on D-Von before the partners join in. Scott suplexes Ray and we get the classic Steiners’ pose. The fight heads back outside and they go into the crowd. At least we can see what’s going on.

Scott nails Ray in the head with a chair as Rick hammers D-Von down against the same wall in the crowd. They finally come back to ringside with the Steiners still in full control. We get our first table brought in but D-Von breaks up a belly to belly superplex. With Scott down, a 3D puts Rick through the table and it’s 1-0. Team 3D gets another table in the ring but Scott hits Ray low and hits a Frankensteiner to put Ray through the table.

Next table wins now. Scott avoids a D-Von top rope headbutt but Ray gets back up to plant him with a forearm. Ray whips Scott with a weightlifting belt and brings in some chairs while D-Von grabs another table. For some reason Ray doesn’t like that table and throws it to the floor while Rick and D-Von brawl on the floor. Scott is laid out on the table and D-Von is back in. They try to drive a chair into Scott’s injured throat but the Motor City Machine Guns run out for the save. D-Von accidentally drives a chair into Ray’s face, allowing the Steiners to hit their namesake bulldog to put D-Von through the table for the win.

Rating: D. This was a sloppy brawl but there wasn’t much else they could do given the limitations of the guys in there. By guys I mean Rick if that’s not clear. The match was a big mess and was clearly only there for name value. It’s not any good and the whole thing could have been solved by giving Scott another partner. I know that defeats the point, but it wouldn’t have been as embarrassing.

There are five new Knockouts for the gauntlet match: ODB, Angel Williams (Angelina Love), Talia Madison (Velvet Sky), Shelley Martinez and Kong, who scares the other four off.

We get a quick slideshow of the girls in the gauntlet match.

Knockouts Title: Gauntlet Match

This is to crown the inaugural champion. As usual, it’s over the top with one minute intervals for the ten entrants until we get to the final two when it becomes one fall to a finish. Miss Brooks is in at #1 and Jackie Moore is in at #2. Jackie runs Brooks over and knocks her face first onto the mat until Shelley Martinez is in at #3. Brooks goes after Shelley and gets dropped with a reverse DDT for her efforts. Jackie goes after Shelley, allowing Brooks to hit a top rope seated senton on Martinez.

Awesome Kong is in at #4 but takes 55 seconds to get to the ring and can’t do anything. Jackie throws out Brooks and Kong dumps Martines. ODB is in at #5 and also takes her time getting in, allowing Kong to plant Jackie and dump her out. We’re down to ODB vs. Kong and of course ODB starts swinging. Angel Williams is in at #6 as Kong is hammering away on ODB. The girls wisely double team Kong but are quickly suplexed down.

Christy Hemme (looking GREAT) is in at #7 and immediately gets put in a torture rack. Kong slams her down until Gail Kim comes in at #8 with a missile dropkick. Hemme is taken out by medics as the other three gang up on Kong. They finally dump Kong out (and break her top at the same time) as Talia Madison is in at #9. ODB and Gail Kim double team Williams out Roxxi Leveaux is in at #10 so we have a final grouping of Gail, Roxxi, ODB and Talia. Gail throws out Talia and Roxxi dumps ODB to get us to the one on one match.

Roxxi nails her with a forearm to the chest and plants her with a fall away slam for two. The fans are almost entirely behind Gail, as they’ve been since the beginning. An Octopus Hold has Roxxi in trouble but she falls into the ropes. Gail misses a missile dropkick and they trade rollups for two each. Back up and Kim grabs White Noise for the pin and the first title.

Rating: C-. These matches are hard to get into and it would have helped quite a bit if we hadn’t had a battle royal about an hour ago. Kim is a good choice for the first champion and has a built in challenger in Kong, who had some great matches with Gail in the coming months. I do like that she won the title with a pin instead of dumping someone out though. It feels more proper.

Nash tells Kurt to apologize to Sting for hitting Sting’s son. Angle won’t of course and calls Nash a bad name. Kurt says Sting slapped his wife which is a stretch of course. Nash says he can’t help Kurt tonight and Angle says he knows because Nash can’t get in the ring. Ok then.

We recap Christian vs. Joe, which is simply about respect. Matt Morgan is guest enforcer for no apparent reason.

Christian Cage vs. Samoa Joe

Christian has yet to be pinned or made to submit in about two and a half years in TNA. Joe beats Christian like he stole something to start and the fans aren’t sure who to cheer for. Christian gets tied up in the Tree of Woe for a delayed dropkick and there are some Facewashes for good measure. A middle rope Rough Ryder drops Christian and some chops put him on the apron.

The suicide elbow sends Christian into the barricade and the Canadian is in big trouble. We get a badly contrived spot as Joe backdrops Christian up against the ropes so Christian can come down with a DDT on the floor. Back in and Christian nails his reverse DDT but misses the frog splash, leading to a slugout. Joe wins as you would expect him to and kicks Christian out of the air, sending the Canadian to the floor. He tries to walk out but gets blocked by Morgan, who finally does something in the match.

Joe doesn’t like Christian trying to leave so he hits a big spinning plancha to take him down. Back in and Joe sidesteps the cross bosy as only he can. Joe locks on the Clutch but Christian swings back over him and tries the Unprettier, only to be shoved off just as quickly. A powerbomb puts Christian into the corner but he pops back up with a powerbomb of his own and puts his feet on the ropes for two.

Back up again and Christian tries an O’Connor Roll but gets countered into another Koquina Clutch. Christian escapes again and they go up top for no real reason other than to have both guys fall to the floor. This brings out Tomko for a fight with Morgan, allowing AJ to sneak in and try the springboard forearm on Joe, but Morgan breaks it up and chases both lackeys off with a chair. Christian uses the distraction to hit Joe low and the Unprettier gets a VERY close two. Cage puts on a Clutch of his own but Joe powers up and hits the MuscleBuster and puts on the real Clutch to make Christian tap for the first time.

Rating: A-. This was AWESOME and really got rolling once it had the time to get going. Morgan wasn’t a factor here for the most part and the wrestlers got to wrestle. This is a good example of the main event style getting to flow and the ending worked really well with Joe just being too much for Christian to handle once he got rolling. That’s the Joe that TNA was ready to build around before they sold their soul to Kurt Angle for the better part of ever.

Nash begs Sting to not do this with Kurt because Kurt is all Nash has. Since he can’t wrestle anymore, he’d have no way back to the spotlight. Again, Joe vs. Christian just happened but this is the focus of the show.

We recap the Monster’s Ball match. This video has a religious overtone and we hear about how brutal the match will be for everyone involved.

Abyss vs. Black Reign vs. Rhino vs. Raven

Black Reign is Dustin Rhodes in a freaky monster/alter ego thing. Basically it’s evil Goldust but they can’t call him Goldust. Rhino charges in to fight before Abyss comes out. Abyss gets here and cleans house as the announcers find it shocking that Abyss has never won a Monster’s Ball. Rhino brings in the weapons and the match gets violent in a hurry. A low blow puts Reign down and Rhino puts a garbage can between his legs before hitting it with what looked like a golf club.

Raven gets crushed by a shopping cart, leaving Rhino to fight with Abyss. All four fight up the aisle and Rhino Gores his way through a wall after Abyss sidesteps the charge. Raven is busted open and heads to the balcony with Reign. He tells Reign to jump off and land on Abyss but when Reign won’t do it, Raven dives himself, sending Abyss through a table.

Reign tries to steal a pin on Abyss back inside but Raven makes a last second save. Abyss grabs the bag of tacks but gets taken down by a no arms Pedigree from Reign. Now it’s Rhino getting back in to Gore Reign before Raven nails everyone with weapons shots. James Mitchell comes out as Abyss hits the Black Hole Slam to drive Raven into tacks and glass for the pin.

Rating: D+. The last two of these just haven’t been as good as the first one as it feels like they’re just going through the motions with these. At the end of the day, when you’ve seen one of these you’ve seen most of them and that’s the case here. There’s only so many things you can do without killing someone and they hit that ceiling years ago.

We recap Angle vs. Sting. There’s not much here other than they both have history in Atlanta. The stuff with Sting’s son and Nash isn’t mentioned.

TNA World Title: Sting vs. Kurt Angle

Kurt is defending and looks about 40lbs lighter than usual. That’s not a compliment. Sting is challenging because he’s Sting. Good sign in the crowd: Angle Fears Hair. Feeling out process tos tart with Angle going to the rope to get away from Sting. An armbar takes Sting to the mat but he reverses into a headlock. Kurt counters into a headscissors and we have a standoff. A big hiptoss sends Angle out to the floor and we get a breather.

Back in and Sting hammers away in the corner but Kurt comes back with some kicks and uppercuts. The ankle lock is countered and Sting clotheslines him right back to the floor. This time Sting follows Angle out and rams him face first into the announcers’ table. Back in and Kurt escapes the Death Drop and nails a release German to put both guys down. Off to a bodyscissors on Sting who quickly fights up, only to get caught in an overhead belly to belly.

Angle hooks a reverse chinlock with his knee in Sting’s back but the painted one fights up again for a double clotheslines. Both guys are down and it’s really not clear why there’s no count with Sting’s arm on top of Angle. Back up and a pair of Stinger Splashes stagger Angle before a bulldog puts him down. Sting goes up for the top rope splash but Kurt runs the ropes to superplex him down. Kurt rolls the Germans but Sting counters the ankle lock into the Scorpion for a nice counter.

Karen Angle comes out to break it up and we hear about a restraining order for the first time. The distraction lets Nash sneak in to nail Sting, setting up the Angle Slam for a very close two. Sting fights out of a belly to belly superplex but again the middle rope splash hits knees. Angle busts out a 450 but totally messed up, driving his knees into Sting’s chest for two. The ankle lock is countered with Kurt being sent into Nash but the referee gets bumped, and wouldn’t you know it, Sting just happens to hit the Death Drop a second later.

Another referee comes in for two but Nash pulls him out at two. Nash destroys Sting in the corner but Sting fights them off because he’s Sting and therefore Superman in TNA. A low blow stops Sting but he blocks a baseball bad shot. He nails both guys and hits the Death Drop on Angle to get the title back.

Rating: C-. Is anyone else as tired of Sting in these title matches as I am? TNA comes off like a tribute company to him at times and it gets boring seeing him do this stuff every year. The match was decent but there are so many other people that could use this rub. It’s booking like this that has held TNA back over the years and they never learned. I’m still not sure what Nash and Karen had to do with this.

Sting celebrates while he can, as he would lose the title at the next Impact.

Overall Rating: C. The show is good for the most part but it’s very forgettable. I had to go back and look at some of the matches again to remember what happened just a few hours later. Christian vs. Joe was good, but why bother with good when you can have EPIC AND AVERAGE with the main event? Yeah I know it’s star power but how about making some new stars?

Ratings Comparison

LAX vs. Triple X

Original: B-

Redo: B

Reverse Battle Royal

Original: F+

Redo: F

AJ Styles and Tomko vs. Team Pacman

Original: D

Redo: C

Christopher Daniels vs. Jay Lethal

Original: C-

Redo: C+

Team 3D vs. Steiner Brothers

Original: D+

Redo: D

Gauntlet Match

Original: C-

Redo: C-

Christian Cage vs. Samoa Joe

Original: B+

Redo: A-

Abyss vs. Raven vs. Rhino vs. Black Reign

Original: D

Redo: D+

Kurt Angle vs. Sting

Original: C+

Redo: C-

Overall Rating

Original: D+

Redo: C

This one got better over time but it’s really nothing great.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPPH0WI

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Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/10/11/bound-for-glory-2007-sting-vs-angle-as-usual/

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/04/05/bound-for-glory-2006-could-have-been-a-masterpiece/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPPH0WI

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Over the last few years I’ve redone my ratings for the Big Four WWE PPVs so why not do it for the big TNA show? We’re approaching the tenth show in the series and there’s always a chance it’s going to be the last. Every day until the 2014 Bound For Glory, I’ll be posting a brand new review of a Bound For Glory. Let’s get to it.

Bound For Glory 2005
Date: October 23, 2005
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 900
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

This is still pretty early in the company’s run but things are starting to roll. Jeff Jarrett is the top guy in the company, which makes perfect sense given that he’s the owner. His opponent tonight is supposed to be Kevin Nash but there are some shenanigans afoot. Other than that we have Daniels vs. Styles in a thirty minute Iron Man Match for the X-Division Title. Let’s get to it.

The opening video starts by showing the awesome voiceover guy, which I don’t remember ever seeing before. He talks about the year of three hour pay per views that have led us to this. They’re already treating Bound For Glory like the biggest show of the year and that’s an important thing to have to look forward to.

Samoa Joe vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

No story here as this is a dream match. Joe has the full Polynesian entrance here which really does look cool. He’s still unbeaten here and is the hottest act in the company. We have to get rid of the streamers due to the pesky Japanese tradition. Liger tries some shoulders and just bounces off the big man. He asks Joe to try one of his own and takes Joe down with a drop toehold.

The fans are split on who to cheer for here as Joe is sent to the floor. A big baseball slide and dive take Joe down again. Back in and Joe hits a quick Samoan drop before a big knee gets two. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Joe hits his snap powerslam for two. Liger fights up and hits a quick Liger Kick in the corner before stepping on Joe’s foot to suplex him over.

A top rope splash gets two on Joe but he comes back with an enziguri. Liger escapes what looked to be a superplex attempt and nails the Liger Bomb for two. The signature open palm thrust gets another near fall on Joe but he’s able to crotch Jushin on the top. The MuscleBuster and Koquina Clutch are enough to keep Joe undefeated.

Rating: C. The match felt like they were trying to have a passing of the torch/dream match and it only kind of worked. Given that the match wasn’t even seven and a half minutes long, this must have been a short nap kind of dream instead of a long slumber. It was good enough but I don’t think people were expecting Liger to be the first to beat Joe.

We see some fans at the arena earlier in the day at TNA’s version of Axxess.

Simon Diamond tells his fellow Diamonds in the Rough to start getting it together.

Diamonds in the Rough vs. Apolo/Sonni Siaki/Shark Boy

The Diamonds are Diamond, Elix Skipper and David Young (who lost like 99 matches in a row), Apolo is a Puerto Rican star and Siaki is a Samoa guy with a good look. Shark Boy chops at Simon to start and hits a kind of one knee Codebreaker. Diamond nails a quick clothesline and blocks a Dead Sea Drop (Diamond Dust), only to have Sharky bite his trunks. Off to Apolo vs. Skipper with Apolo nailing a quick RKO for two. A kind of half nelson slam puts Skipper down again but Simon distracts the referee, allowing Young to get in a cheap shot.

Back to Skipper who knocks Apolo out of the air for two but Apolo pops up and throws Skipper into the air for an RKO. The hot tag brings in Siaki to clean house but the Diamonds all come in for a triple team. Apolo nails Young with a TKO but Skipper uses both guys as a springboard to botch a hurricanrana on Siaki. Everything breaks down with almost everyone hitting a big dive. Shark Boy hammers on Simon outside as David hits his spinebuster for the pin on Siaki.

Rating: C-. Just a quick match here with both teams looking decent, though most of the guys weren’t much to see. Apolo was a guy I always liked but he only got to do so much here. The Diamonds were almost the 3MB of their day minus the comedy. They had the talent but the constant losing didn’t help them.

We take a quick look at the four way from the preshow.

Also on the preshow, Raven and Larry Zbyszko continued their stupid feud over Raven wanting the title and Larry wanting him to quit. Security broke it up and Rhino came out to yell at Raven, asking where his edge went. He thinks a girl got into Raven’s head and wound up goring him in half. They both want the title shot later in the night.

NWA World Champion Jeff Jarrett accuses Nash of hiding from the beating that is coming to him. Larry Zbyszko can throw anyone he wants at Jarrett. Throw all the names in the hat if you want to. Screw Jeff Hardy, screw Rhino, screw Abyss, screw Sabu and screw Raven. Monty Brown comes in and tells Jarrett to say screw Monty to his face. Brown says he can smell the fear in Jarrett. Jeff tells him to go take care of a ticked off Texan and Brown promised to Pounce said Texan.

Lance Hoyt vs. Monty Brown

Tenay dedicates this show to the recently passed away Crusher. Hoyt is a big guy who wound wind up in WWE and Japan a few years later. Brown hammers him down but Hoyt comes back with a shoulder block and clothesline. A kind of flapjack puts Brown on the floor and Hoyt follows him out with a huge dive over the top. Back in and Monty fires off some loud chops but Hoyt hits him just as hard. Lance goes up top for his moonsault but Bonty shoves him down to the floor.

Back in and Brown slams him down before shouting a lot. Hoyt nails (kind of) a big boot to the face and hits the moonsault for two. Lance goes to the middle rope but dives into an Alpha Bomb (picture starting with a slam but Monty flips them into the air for a powerbomb) for two. Hoyt grabs a chokeslam for two, only to have Monty pop up with the Pounce for the pin.

Rating: C+. I was really liking this one with Hoyt throwing everything he could at Brown but Monty surviving everything and hitting one of the biggest moves in TNA for the pin. Hoyt had something but when his gimmick in WWE was “I’M INTENSE!”, he didn’t have a ton of hope. Good match.

Video on some TNA guys in Japan.

The 3 Live Kru says they’re united and aren’t worried about Team Canada tonight. Kip James (Billy Gunn) comes in to offer his support. Ron Killings (R-Truth) and BG James (Road Dogg) like the idea but Konnan hates Kip being involved and walks out.

Team Canada vs. 3 Live Kru

This would be Bobby Roode/Eric Young/A-1 vs. BG James/Konnan/Ron Killings. These teams have feuded with each other for months and traded the Tag Team Titles a few times back in 2004. James does the 3 Live Kru version of the New Age Outlaws intro. Young and Konnan get things going with Konnan rolling around a lot and sending Eric into the corner. He takes out all three Canadians on his own and throws his shoe at Young (regular spot for him) to knock Eric outside. Killings does a kind of What’s Up on Roode and the Kru stands tall.

Bobby settles down but gets taken down by a headscissors from Killings. Kip James is sitting on the entrance ramp as James and Killings stomp on Roode. Bobby finally comes back with a full nelson slam for two and we look at Kip. Tenay: “That’s Kip James!” This is a much odder comment after Tenay just got done discussing what was on Kip’s shirt.

The fans chant New Age Outlaws as A-1 powerslams Killings down for two. Killings finally comes back with the spinning forearm and BG comes in off the hot tag. The shaky knee drop gets two on Eric as everything breaks down. Roode sneaks in the hockey stick to knock BG out and give Eric the pin.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have the time to go anywhere but this feud was long since dead by this point. We had seen them fight so long and the fans just wanted the New Age Outlaws to reunite anyway. They just needed something fresh and having them fight again isn’t the right idea.

Post match BG gets beaten down until Kip makes the save. Team Canada holds Konnan for Kip to hit with a chair but he cleans house instead.

Shane Douglas asks Zbyszko who is getting the title shot tonight but Larry is waiting on a phone call. Someone is getting a shot tonight though.

Video on Ultimate X, basically explaining the concept for new fans. For those of you unfamiliar, there are four tresses at corners of the ring with two ropes about ten feet above the ring connecting the tresses. You climb the tresses and get across the polls to pull down the red X at their intersection to win. This transitions into recapping tonight’s match for a future X-Division Title match, which doesn’t have much of a story other than they all want the title shot.

Petey Williams vs. Chris Sabin vs. Matt Bentley

Bentley is Shawn Michaels’ cousin and has a good looking woman named Traci with him. Williams tries to climb first but get double teamed for his efforts. Petey gets back in and hammers on both guys, including a few suplexes to Sabin. Bentley catches Petey in a wheelbarrow suplex but has to pull Sabin off the ropes with a kind of atomic drop. Both good guys are down so Petey tries to climb but Traci offers a distraction by slamming his face into her chest.

It almost works as Bentley is most of the way to the X until both other guys make the save. Sabin sends Bentley into the corner and hits a running release buckle bomb to send Williams onto Matt. Petey comes back with a wicked tornado DDT on Bentley but Sabin goes up for the X. That goes nowhere and it’s Williams dropping a leg to Sabin on the apron.

Williams nails a hurricanrana off the apron to take Bentley down, leaving him as the only man halfway standing. His knee is banged up though and both other guys come in with Bentley taking both opponents down. Sabin and Matt go for the X but it’s Sabin with a HUGE powerbomb off the cables to put all three down again. This time it’s Petey and Sabin going up with Petey kicking him into a Tree of Woe and standing on his crotch to sing O Canada.

Bentley gets back up and shoves Petey to the floor. Williams’ coach Scot D’Amore: “THAT’S NOT FAIR!” Sabin shoves Bentley to the floor, leaving him all alone. Instead of going for the X though, he busts out a moonsault press to take out Williams and Bentley. Sabin goes up again but Bentley spears him off the cables…..and the X falls down.

The match completely stops so the crew can hang it up again. Bentley is the only one thinking as he throws Williams to the floor and hits a dive to try to distract the crowd. Sabin joins them on the floor as the crew gets it hung up again. Sabin and Bentley both go for it but crash down, dropping the X again. Williams catches it and the referee says that’s good enough to prevent further embarrassment.

Rating: C. The ending just kills this match but you can’t blame that on the wrestlers. They were having a good match until the structure messed up and threw them off. It looks really bad for TNA as the announcers had to point out that you’re not supposed to win that way, but really what else could they do? These matches are always tricky and make you think they should just be having a ladder match.

Bentley is livid.

We look at AMW joining forces with Jeff Jarrett and helping him get the World Title back. They then destroyed the recently arrived Team 3D, setting up a HILARIOUS funeral for Ray and D-Von. They also destroyed the Naturals to win the Tag Team Titles, setting up tonight’s rematch.

Tag Team Titles; Naturals vs. AMW

The Naturals are Chase Stevens and Andy Douglas and the champs have Gail Kim in their corner. It’s a big brawl to start with the Naturals in full control on the floor. Things settle down with Stevens vs. Storm in the ring but the Naturals double team him into a running powerbomb against the barricade. Harris gets double teamed in the ring as Storm stumbles up the ramp.

The Naturals go after him to keep up the beating and both champs are sent into the barricade. Douglas chokes Harris with tape until Gail Kim offers a distraction, allowing Harris to send him into the metal tress. Andy is busted open and AMW goes after the cut as we get down to a regular tag match. Eye of the Storm gets two on Andy but he’s able to get over to the corner for the hot tag.

Stevens cleans house and Storm hits Harris by mistake. Storm misses a pair of superkicks and gets nailed by Stevens for two. Gail throws in some powder but Stevens knocks it into Harris’ face, causing him to hit the Cataonic on James. The Naturals hit AMW’s Death Sentence for two on Harris. They load up the Natural Disaster (elevated Stunner) but Gail comes in to break it up. Douglas goes after her but Harris gets up and handcuffs him to the barricade. More distractions let Storm bust a beer bottle over Stevens’ head, setting up the Death Sentence to retain the titles.

Rating: B. This was a really solid brawl with the Naturals getting as close as they could to winning the titles. AMW had only won the belts back a few days before this so they weren’t about to drop them this fast. They’re the best team TNA ever had and there’s no reason to have them lose this fast. It also helps that they so rarely beat the Naturals, who were billed as the team AMW couldn’t figure out for awhile.

Video on Monster’s Ball. The idea was the guys are held without food, water or human contact for twenty four hours before the match though I believe this is the last time that idea was used. There isn’t much of a story here other than all four guys are hardcore and want to be the best.

James Mitchell says Abyss will be ready.

Jeff Hardy vs. Sabu vs. Rhino vs. Abyss

Anything goes and weapons are encouraged. Rhino and Abyss attack Hardy to start but Sabu pelts a chair at them to break it up. Sabu and Rhino head out to the floor, allowing Hardy to hit Poetry in Motion on Abyss, followed by a big dive over the top to nail him on the floor as well. All four guys head into the crowd and Sabu is already bleeding from the eye. Hardy dives off a wall onto Abyss and all four are back at ringside. Jeff pours out a trashcan full of weapons as Sabu hits a big springboard plancha to take out Rhino.

The Whisper in the Wind drops Abyss but he counters the Twist of Fate into Shock Treatment. Rhino starts cleaning house with a chair and Hardy uses Sabu to set up another Poetry in Motion on Abyss. Now Rhino destroys everyone with a kendo stick but the Gore is countered by Abyss’ chokeslam. Hardy and Abyss fight to the floor while Rhino whips Sabu with a weightlifting belt. Abyss pounds Hardy up against the stage and sets up a table next to it.

Sabu bridges a table between the ring and the barricade as Hardy nails Abyss with a chair and puts him on the table by the stage. Sabu drives Rhino through the table at ringside while Hardy climbs the set and dives OVER THE STAGE for a Swanton through Abyss through the tables. That was INSANE. Rhino wedges a chair in the corner but Sabu avoids the Gore and hits a quick Triple Jump Moonsault for two. Abyss is back in and throws Sabu through a table, only to get Gored through another table. Jeff is somehow not dead and hammers away on Rhino, only to get piledriven off the middle rope to give Rhino the pin.

Rating: B. That Hardy spot was incredible and the rest of the brawl was really good as well. They just let four guys beat the tar out of each other and about thirteen minutes and the results worked really well. Rhino’s piledriver to end it looked awesome as well, making the whole thing violent fun.

Zbyszko announces a ten man gauntlet match for tonight’s shot at the title. The participants have all competed already tonight. Shane thinks that’s unfair to Jarrett.

We recap Daniels vs. Styles for the X-Division Title in an Iron Man match. This is actually a rematch after Styles won the first Iron Man match. Daniels said he could beat any three X-Division wrestlers in fifteen minutes. Styles of course was the third guy and the brawl set up the rematch here.

X-Division Title: AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

Thirty minute Iron Man match and AJ is defending. Daniels jumps him before the bell and hammers away in the corner with forearms and chops. A gorilla press drops AJ but he comes back right hand hands and a backbreaker. AJ hits a nice running back elbow to knock Dnaiels to the floor. Back in and Daniels counters the drop down into a dropkick spot with a right hand but AJ comes back with a dropkick of his own to put Daniels down.

They head to the floor with AJ getting a big running start to dive over the barricade and take Daniels down. Back in and Styles works on a headlock as we hit 25:00 to go. Daniels tries to roll him up to escape and finally reverses into an armbar. AJ spins out of a wristlock into one of his own before taking Daniels down for another headlock. In a clever bit, Daniels tries AJ’s dropdown dropkick spot but AJ holds the ropes and nails him in the head for two.

Back up and AJ sends him into all six buckles for a near fall. Off to a Last Chancery on Daniels as we hit 20:00 to go. Daniels escapes and hits a quick high collar suplex to put both guys down. Christopher starts in on the neck but switches to a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. He hooks a neck crank but has to kick out of a few rollups from the champion. Daniels puts on a Koji Clutch to keep Styles in trouble but AJ makes the ropes.

A slingshot moonsault gets two on AJ so Daniels just hammers him with forearms to the head. We’re halfway through the match and AJ comes back with the springboard moonsault into the reverse DDT to get a breather. Some clotheslines and a spinwheel kick drop Daniels again and a suplex gets two. There’s a pumphandle gutbuster for the same but Styles’ springboard is caught in a Death Valley Driver for a very close two.

Daniels flips him off the top into a sitout slam for two more and frustration is setting in. Styles suplexes Daniels into a neckbreaker for two but charges into a Blue Thunder Bomb. BME connects for two and Christopher is stunned. We hit 10:00 left as AJ lifts him up into a Torture Rack before spinning Daniels down with a powerbomb for two. Daniels avoids a charge in the corner and knees AJ to the floor where he bounces off the steps. As soon as AJ gets up he turns around into a suicide dive to put both guys down on the floor.

They try to get back in but AJ nails the Pele to put Daniels back on the floor. AJ follows him out with a HUGE flip dive and both guys are down again. They slowly get to the apron but Daniels belly to back suplexes Styles onto the floor again, leaving both guys in an even bigger heap that before. Daniels gets back in with five minutes to go and kicks AJ back to the floor. Back in again and they slug it out with AJ getting the better of it at four minutes left.

They trade rollups for two each before Styles misses a Pele. More rollups get two each and AJ tries a Tajiri handspring, only to get caught in a release German suplex with three minutes to go. AJ scores with a discus lariat to put both guys down until two minutes left. Styles avoids a charge and hits a high cross body but Daniels rolls through for two.

Another forearm exchange sends Daniels to the ropes at a minute left on the clock. An enziguri gets two on Daniels but he comes back with one of his own, only to have AJ counter Angel’s Wings with a suplex. Styles tries a rollup but shifts over to the Styles Clash for the pin with two seconds left to retain the title.

Rating: A-. This took its time but that’s kind of the point of the match. They were countering everything each other had and learning as the match went which is one of my favorite things to see. It’s really hard to screw up a match between these two and this is one of their better ones because the match was still fresh at this point. One other great thing: AJ didn’t just survive. He beat Daniels with his finishing move.

Promo for Genesis.

Gauntlet For The Gold

This is a ten man Royal Rumble with the winner getting a World Title shot immediately after. The first two wrestlers fight for two minutes and there’s a new entrant every minute with over the top and to the floor eliminations. Samoa Joe comes in at #1 and Ron Killings at #2 with Killings mocking Joe’s dancing for the first fifty seconds or so. Joe sends him into the corner for the Facewash but Killings pulls himself to the top rope for a Blockbuster. A Downward Spiral drops Joe again and Killings goes for the elimination until Sabu (with a chair) is in at #3.

Both guys in the ring get pelted with the chair and a Triple Jump Moonsault crushes Killings. Joe nails Sabu with the chair and Lance Hoyt is in at #4. Lance kicks everyone in the face and Joe plants Sabu with a DDT. Abyss is in at #5 and immediately stares down Joe. They chop it out and grab each other by the throat but Killings breaks it up. Jeff Hardy is in at #6 and the ring is really getting full.

Sabu’s cut has opened up again as Hardy hammers on everyone in sight. The guys are getting tired now as Monty Brown is in at #7. He Pounces Sabu and throws Jeff to the apron. It’s a botched spot though as they were both supposed to go out, so Monty has to jump over and eliminate himself. Don West is trying to say Brown didn’t understand the rules to cover for that horrible looking spot.

Rhino, who can barely walk, is in at #8. He gets in a brawl with Hoyt and puts the big man out before getting hammered down by Abyss. Kip James (who didn’t wrestle tonight) is in at #9 and takes everyone down with clotheslines and punches. A Fameasser drops Abyss and AJ Styles is in at #10 to screw over Raven one more time. Styles can barely move either so Abyss hammers on him in the corner. Sabu was put out off camera so we have a final grouping of Joe, Killings, James, Abyss, Styles and Rhino.

Everything slows down until AJ carries Truth to the apron. Kip tries to eliminate him and falls out to get us down to five. He saved Killings in the process though so Ron kicks AJ down. AJ gets all ticked off and muscles Killings over the top. Kip tries to make a save but referees shove him away, sending Killings down to the floor. Joe puts AJ in the choke but Abyss puts them both out. Rhino nails a Gore out of nowhere and tosses Abyss out for the title shot.

Rating: C-. There was only so much they could do here as half of the guys had to sell injuries. I’ll give them this though: there were a bunch of guys in there that could conceiveably win so this wasn’t the most obvious ending in the world. It’s nothing great but at least they kept it quick and only had a few dead spots.

NWA World Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. Rhino

MMA fighter Tito Ortiz is guest referee for no apparent reason. Jeff has Gail Kim with him and brings out a casket, again for no apparent reason. Jarrett stomps away at Rhino to start and nails him with a nice dropkick. He slides under the ropes for an uppercut and sends Rhino into the barricade over and over. Rhino is busted open and being slammed into the announcers’ table doesn’t help things. Now it’s a shot into the casket as Rhino has had no offense.

Back in and a pair of top rope clotheslines drop Rhino and Jeff is getting cocky. He goes up again but Rhino catches him by the throat and kicks the champ low. The Gore misses though and Gail Kim goes up top, only to get caught in midair by Tito. He takes her to the floor, allowing Jarrett to stop a Gore with the guitar shot. Tito comes back in for a two count and Jeff is stunned. Now AMW comes out with another guitar, earning them both right hands from Ortiz. Rhino avoids the guitar shot and Gores Jarrett down for the pin and the title.

Rating: D+. You have to give this a break as it was much more about telling a story than the match itself. The idea was Rhino being beaten down so much all night and hitting one big move to win the title. It actually works as the Gore is the kind of move you can hit out of nowhere for a pin and it really worked here. The match didn’t last long enough but to be fair, Rhino had wrestled half an hour already with half of that coming in a very violent match.

AMW beats Rhino down post match until 3 Live Kru makes the save. Team Canada comes out to take out the Kru and the casket is brought into the ring. There’s a guitar shot to knock Rhino into the casket. Jarrett poses on the casket with the belt until Team 3D returns to beat down Jarrett’s army. Rhino gets out of the casket as Eric Young takes a 3D and is thrown into the casket to end the show. I REALLY hate that ending as it makes this all about Team 3D instead of the new champion. That just wasn’t needed.

Overall Rating: B+. This was an awesome show with some very good matches in the middle and nothing really bad. It felt like the biggest show of the year and was probably the best TNA show of their first year on pay per view. Rhino winning was a nice moment to go out on, even though he only held the title a month. The key thing though is they gave us this moment. You don’t need a big reign as long as you have the big win. That’s a lesson more wrestling companies need to learn. Really solid show here and one of TNA’s best ever.

As I do with the WWE shows, I’ll be comparing my original rating to the new ones and offering a quick final thought on the new version.

Ratings Comparison

Samoa Joe vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

Original: D+

Redo: C

Apolo/Shark Boy/Sonny Siaki vs. Diamonds in the Rough

Original: D+

Redo: C-

Monty Brown vs. Lance Hoyt

Original: C

Redo: C+

Team Canada vs. 3 Live Kru

Original: D

Redo: D+

Chris Sabin vs. Petey Williams vs. Matt Bentley

Original: D+

Redo: C

America’s Most Wanted vs. The Naturals

Original: B

Redo: B

Jeff Hardy vs. Sabu vs. Rhino vs. Abyss

Original: B

Redo: B

AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

Original: A

Redo: A-

Gauntlet Match

Original: C-

Redo: C-

Rhino vs. Jeff Jarrett

Original: C

Redo: D+

Overall Rating

Original: B+

Redo: B+

Still one of TNA’s best, which says a lot given how fast they had to change the main event around. Remember that: the less Nash in the main event, the better your show is.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/05/26/bound-for-glory-2005-if-all-tna-shows-were-like-this-id-rarely-complain/

Today is the clueless putz himself Steven Richards.

Richards started in ECW in 1992, even having the first match at the ECW Arena. We’ll pick things up in the same promotion (well the same letters at least) on February 4, 1995 at Double Tables.

Stevie Richards vs. Tommy Dreamer

Richards is Raven’s main lackey and helping in the war with Dreamer. They shove each other up against the ropes to start with Richards cowering like you would expect him to. To the floor now with Richards nailing him in the face and taking Dreamer’s shirt. Back in and Dreamer hammers away before planting Richards with a swinging neckbreaker.

Richards is tossed back to the floor and whipped into the barricade as this is getting violent. Back inside with a low blow to Stevie with a frying pan but Stevie pops back up with a backdrop. The DDT catches Richards out of nowhere but Raven grabs Dreamer. Stevie gets back up for a superkick and Tommy is in trouble. Another superkick is blocked with a low blow and Dreamer grabs the rollup pin.

Rating: D. Richards wasn’t much to see in the ring and that was very apparent here. The match wasn’t any good and was just there for Raven to interfere. The perk of a feud like Dreamer and Raven is they could have a bunch of matches with other guys to keep their big showdowns fresh.

We’re going to look at what is considered ECW’s best match by a variety of reviewers. This is from Gangstas’ Paradise and it’s double dog collar, 2/3 falls.

Tag Team Titles: Pitbulls vs. Raven/Stevie Richards

The Pitbulls are challenging and they’re done if they lose. There’s no Richards in sight to start so Raven looks to be going it alone. Beaulah says Richards broke his arm last night so we should make this 2/3 falls. The Pitbulls agree and Raven ties himself up to #2. The brawl is on and #2 starts choking Raven over the ropes as #1 runs to the back. A chair to the head has Raven in even more trouble as #1 drags Richards (with both arms looking fine) out with the collar attaching them.

Richards gets beaten up with a chair as Raven piledrives #2 through the table for a fast pin. The second fall begins with #1 taking a double DDT for two as #2 makes the save. Another table is brought in as #1 beats on Richards even more. With Raven down, a Super Bomb through the table is enough to tie things up as we get down to the real stuff with the third fall.

We take a quick break to look at both falls and come back to see Richards a bloody mess. #1 takes Richards into the crowd where Richards nails him with a chair. Raven and #2 fight in the aisle until #2 sends in another table. The referee goes down (like it matters) and here are the Dudleys (Dances With Dudley and Dudley Dudley) to beat up the Pitbulls. The champions hit Super Bombs but the Pitbulls pop right back up. A double DDT takes down all four villains and both Dudleys take Super Bombs of their own.

We get another table brought in but #2 leaves a Super Bomb on Raven short, driving the back of his head into the edge of the table. The referee wakes up and counts a VERY slow two so Raven busts out some ether to knock out #2 (Joey: “TAKE THAT CRAP TO SMOKY MOUNTAIN!” Yes it was a jab at Cornette’s booking.).

Raven sends #2 through two tables but is too spent to follow up. #2 is taken to the back as Richards gets crotched on the top and suplexed through a table. An unhooked Raven comes in for the save as Francine comes in to go after Richards and gets in a catfight with Beaulah, only to have Raven DDT her down. This brings out Dreamer to chain himself to Raven and lay him out with a DDT….and the pin?

We’re still not done yet though as heel referee Bill Alfonso (heel because he follows the rules) comes out to reverse the decision. Since Dreamer wasn’t in the match, the pin doesn’t count so he still hasn’t officially beaten Raven and the match continues. This brings out Commissioner Tod Gordon to yell at Alfonso but Bill nails him in the face.

Big Dick Dudley is here to chokeslam Dreamer, which Alfonso has to unban as Alfonso had made it illegal to protect himself from the chokeslamming machine 911 who had been wanting to chokeslam Alfonso for months. This immediately brings out 911 to plant Alfonso with a chokeslam for a standing ovation. The Pitbulls get back in to Super Bomb Raven for the pin and the titles.

Rating: B. It’s a good brawl, but the impressive part is all the intricate booking coming together to make the whole thing work. They were juggling about five stories at once here and everything was hitting to perfection. It’s not a masterpiece due to the match itself being nothing great, but the storytelling was really good.

Here’s a quick match at November to Remember 1995.

El Puerto Ricano vs. Stevie Richards

Richards is a goofy putz (Joey’s words) here and is Raven’s (top heel here) lackey. Richards gets a gift from the unnamed Blue Meanie who comes over the guardrail with a shirt that says Blue Meanie. The gift is a Flock of Seagulls half shirt. The non Clueless Putz (never did anything of note) jumps Richards and we’re off.

Ricano hits a missile dropkick and dives on Meanie to take care of him. He goes up too many times though and Richards slams him down to take over. Flock of Seagulls dude hits a powerbomb and the other guy (you type Ricano over and over again) is in trouble. He gets draped over the top and takes another Stevie Bomb. Blue Meanie comes in and misses a moonsault. Richards hits a superkick to end this. More or less just a squash.

We’ll jump ahead to House Party 1996 for a match with a hardcore legend.

Sabu vs. Stevie Richards

Richards slips getting into the ring and falls on his face. He also has a bad arm coming into this. Richards runs to start and throws in a chair. Yeah, throw a chair to Sabu. Joey agrees with me, saying that it’s like handing a chainsaw to Leatherface. Sabu has enough of the standing around so he hits a suicide dive to take over. Back inside and Sabu hooks a chinlock but Stevie powerbombs him out of the corner to take over.

Sabu will have none of that and comes back with a slingshot flipping legdrop. Off to an armbar of all things but it only lasts a few seconds. Richards is placed on the top rope and with the help of a chair, Sabu “hits” Air Sabu to knock him to the floor. Sabu slams him to the floor and both guys are down. Richards gets sent into the railing and Sabu sets up a table. Blue Meanie saves Stevie and we head back inside.

Sabu gets caught in an electric chair position but he rolls Richards over the top and out to the floor. This show needs to hurry up and end because it’s REALLY dragging badly now. Richards head fakes Sabu and the crazy one goes through the table. That would be the crazy one Sabu in case you were confused. Meanie gets in a kick on Sabu and they head inside again. Stevie drops a top rope punch for two as we see that he’s not the best on offense.

A Frankensteiner gets two for Sabu and both guys are spent. Richards is sent to the floor and Sabu finally dives over the top with a slingshot rana onto Meanie. Richards gets a horribly botched one of his own from Sabu and the guy in the bright yellow pants takes over again. Richards is placed on a table but Meanie makes the save.

Paul E of all people comes out to beat up Meanie and Sabu hits a dive through Richards through the table. Back inside and that only gets two as this match just keeps going. Richards rolls him up for two and hits the Stevie Kick for another two. A Sabu DDT gets the same and it’s chair time again. Sabu goes up and hits the Atomic Arabian Facebuster (flip leg drop with the chair) to get a pretty anti-climactic pin.

Rating: C-. This just kept going and going and it was only decent to begin with. Sabu would be pushed much harder over the next few months as he would feud with Taz while Richards would somehow get into the world title #1 contenders match at Barely Legal. This wasn’t awful but it dragged a lot which really hurt it.

Another match with another hardcore guy from Cyberslam 1997.

Balls Mahoney vs. Stevie Richards

Mahoney likes leather it seems. Uh…yeah. Use your imagination here people. It’s BWO Stevie here. A little trivia here is that Rob Feinstein, as in the RF in RF Video and a former owner of ROH is playing the Syxx (X-Pac) parody of 7-11 here. Balls has short hair here. He must trim them. The fans aren’t sure who they like here but it seems to be Stevie. I think the BWO is face here but it’s kind of hard to tell in the ECW Arena.

Stevie uses speed to take over, likely just offering Balls some to get him down. Off to an armbar now as the arena flashes his chest to the fans. Oh dear. Fujiwara Armbar now by Stevie (named after Mr. Fuji if you’ve been curious as to that for some odd reason). Balls pounds away for a bit and then it’s right back to Stevie’s armbar. Ten punches in the corner and then Stevie climbs the ropes backwards and rubs his tiguts in Balls’ face. So he wants Balls around his….never mind.

Another clothesline by Balls gets two. Balls has next to no offense outside of clotheslines and punches. He tries a spinwheel kick with Richards on the apron and yet he hits the floor before Richards. As in like 5 seconds before Richards. Stevie chills on the floor for a minute or so until Balls drags him back in. Middle rope elbow has Stevie in trouble.

This is boring if you couldn’t tell as we’re at about 8:30 so far. Yes, these two get eight and a half minutes. Balls gets a modified atomic drop (more like an elevated punch to the balls, thereby making Stevie’s voice elevated) and makes fun of the BWO. Top rope leg drop misses and it’s a Stunner by Stevie to give him control for all of half a second. Powerbomb and a superkick miss so Stevie kicks him in the balls and then the chin to end this.

Rating: D-. See, this is where the problems came from for ECW. In short, the matches aren’t that good. The characters are ok and the stories are more developed, but at the end of the day the wrestling just wasn’t there for the most part. They had some good talent, but a lot of the time it was a guy that punched a lot and had a finisher and that’s about it. They knew no basic stuff and it was glaringly obvious at times. Also, this getting nearly 13 minutes is a bit much.

Richards would start up the BWO and jump up the card, somehow getting into a #1 contenders match at Barely Legal.

Stevie Richards vs. Sandman vs. Terry Funk

This is under elimination rules and the winner gets Raven later in the night for the World Title. Richards is the leader of the BWO but he’s starting to be taken a bit more seriously as a main event guy. He used to be Raven’s lackey but has now struck out on his own. Sandman, known for drinking and smoking on the way to the ring, busts himself open with a beer can on the way to the ring. He and Raven have a long history as well so he would make sense as a challenger too. Funk is the grizzled veteran looking for one more hurrah and is taking Dreamer’s place tonight as Dreamer wanted his mentor to get the title.

Sandman downs another beer and spits it in Stevie’s face while still holding his Singapore cane. All three guys circle each other until Terry and Richards lock up. Sandman breaks it up and chops Stevie in the corner, only to get in a fight with Funk. An early spinning toehold is broken up by Richards and Terry takes a bunch of elbow drops from both guys. Sandman and Richards get into it so Terry hits four straight neckbreakers on Stevie for two.

With no real provocation, Sandman throws in a ladder which blasts Funk in the back of the head. He suplexes the ladder down onto Richards and hits Terry in the head again for two. Terry and Sandman climb the ladder in the corner but Funk moonsaults down onto a standing Stevie instead. Still on the ropes, Sandman picks up the ladder and drops it down onto Richards’ back for two.

Stevie superkicks the ladder into Sandman’s face for two before both of them climb the ladder for no apparent reason. Funk falls into them to knock everything over and all three guys are down. With Stevie down, Sandman and Terry take turns ramming each other face first into the ladder. Richards gets back up and catapults the ladder into the others’ faces and everyone is down again. The Stevie Kick nails Sandman for two and Terry takes one for the same.

Sandman throws both of them plus the ladder out to the floor and dives over the top, knocking the ladder into Richards’ face. Back in and Terry suplexes Stevie but Sandman throws in a trashcan, nailing Terry square in the head. Funk doesn’t seem to mind and even helps Sandman with a spike piledriver on Stevie. Sandman crushes him under the ladder but Terry can only get two.

Terry nails Sandman in the face with the ladder to send him to the floor as Dreamer rants about Raven getting to face the winner while fresh. A double powerbomb is enough to pin Richards and get us down to one on one, sucking some life out of the crowd. Sandman and Terry shake hands then punch each other in the face, only to have Terry backdrop him out to the floor and onto Stevie.

We get barbed wire brought in but Terry wraps Sandman’s shirt around his face and hammers away. The barbed wire is whipped over Sandman’s back to cut him open, but Sandman wraps it around himself and drops a top rope legdrop for two. Stevie is still here for some reason as the trashcan is put over Sandman’s head, setting up a superkick to knock Sandman silly. Terry adds a moonsault for the pin and the title shot.

Rating: C-. This was the hardcore mess that you have to expect with ECW. Sandman wasn’t much of a wrestler in the technical sense but the fans were way into him and he could throw a solid punch. Funk winning was the best option with Dreamer not being an option, but the fans were WAY behind Stevie here and an upset wouldn’t have been a terrible idea.

Richards would jump to WCW for a few matches, including this one on Nitro, August 18, 1997.

Stevie Richards vs. Scotty Riggs

Richards charges to the ring like a maniac. Riggs grabs the wrist to start before nearly botching a monkey flip. A dropkick puts Richards on the floor but he rams Scotty’s shoulder into the post to take over. Back in and a sitout spinebuster gets two for Stevie but Scotty comes back with some clotheslines. Richards loses his half shirt and gets caught in a side slam for two. Raven jumps the railing as Stevie hits the Stevie Kick for the pin.

Rating: D. I guess this was to set up future stuff but that didn’t make this any easier to get through. Riggs is just not that good and Richards is a comedy character which doesn’t make for an interesting or good match at all. Not much to see here but that would be the case for a lot of Nitro matches.

After a year or so doing nothing of note, it was off to the WWF with one of Richards first matches taking place on Smackdown, October 14, 1999.

Stevie Richards vs. Val Venis

Richards comes out as Dude Love because he’s a bit out there. Val counters a monkey flip with a hot shot but walks into a superkick for two. Back up and Venis slams him down and hits the Money Shot for the pin in just over a minute.

Richards would become Steven Richards and lead the Right to Censor as a parody of the PTC. Here he is at Summerslam 2000.

Right to Censor vs. Too Cool/Rikishi

Too Cool and Rikishi are WAY over at this point and even won the tag titles over the summer. The RTC is Richards/Goodfather/Bull Buchanan at this point. Some of Goodfather’s former women come out with Rikishi, one of which would become known as Victoria. It’s a big brawl to start until we get Scotty pounding on Buchanan. Hotty backflips over Buchanan and pulls him down before getting two off a high cross body. Off to Sexay for a double suplex before Goodfather comes in and falls to the floor. He shoves Victoria down before punching Sexay in the face to take over.

Buchanan gets in some shots of his own and it’s off to Richards for his cheap shots. A powerbomb gets two and JR sounds stunned. Steven gets crotched on top and superplexed down allowing for the hot tag to Rikishi. The fat man cleans house and Victoria throws Richards back in the ring. The RTC is sent into the corner with Too Cool being launched into all of them at once, but Bull gets in a quick ax kick to take the Samoan down. Scotty loads up the Worm but Steven kicks his head off for the pin.

Rating: C. Basic six man tag here to get the crowd going. A fast paced act like Too Cool and Rikishi is always a great choice to start up a show as the crowd gets fired up for the entrance and hopefully stays hot for the rest of the show. The RTC was a fine choice for a heel stable as they took away what the fans wanted to see and the people were glad to see them get beaten up.

Another match from No Mercy 2000.

Val Venis/Steven Richards vs. Billy Gunn/Chyna

Steven refers to Gunn as rectally obsessed. That somehow fits. Who came up with the stupid name? They need to be drug out into the street and shot. Val and Rikishi start us off which is as riveting as it sounds. Val punches Chyna on the floor and goes into the steps for his troubles. This is going nowhere fast. I hate that expression but it fits here.

Chyna spins Richards around by the tie. She goes off on him and the heels are in trouble. Val goes after the arm of Billy as this is setting new standards for boring. Chyna gets a very weak tag for the beatdown. Handspring elbow to Val as Billy helps to beat him up. Pedigree attempt but Eddie comes down to hit her with the loaded flowers and Val gets the pin.

Rating: F. Sweet GOODNESS this was boring. I get the injury thing but at the same time this had nothing at all to it. Get on to the next match please.

The RTC would start going downhill but they had one more decent night at No Way Out 2001.

Jerry Lawler vs. Steven Richards

Tazz does commentary in Lawler’s place. He’s still a wrestler so this is a new thing for him. He’s a bit like his normal commentating self but not all the way yet. Lawler makes a full entrance despite being at the commentary desk not 2 minutes ago. We see a clip of the RTC stopping the (XFL’s) Las Vegas Outlaws cheerleaders last night. RTC was a parody of the Parents Television Council who got on Vince every 9 seconds for something he did.

This is the walking definition of a catch your breath match as the fans need something worthless to bridge the gap from the war they just saw to the last two matches. Lawler expands his offense from just punches by adding in rapid fire punches. This is why it’s great to have someone like Lawler around: you can throw him in there for something like this and you know he’s going to at least be passable, especially since he only wrestles like twice a year so his expectations are very low.

Kat and Ivory go at it for a bit but the distraction allows Richards to take over. Richards misses a splash in the corner and Lawler takes over for a bit. Apparently if he wins Kat gets to lose her clothes. Ivory comes in and Teddy Long takes FOREVER to get rid of her. Kat tries to hit Richards with Ivory’s belt but she nails Lawler by mistake for the pin. Kat has to join RTC now, but she was released in like two weeks, resulting in Lawler quitting. They were married at the time.

Rating: D. This was pretty weak but at the same time it was about as good as it was going to get. It was on the level of a pretty bad TV match but like I said this was designed to just fill in about 10 minutes so that the fans could breathe a bit. Nothing special at all but it did its job I guess.

Richards would become his old self around this time and win 21 Hardcore Titles. We’ll skip past that as there’s almost nothing to talk about most of the time. Here he is on Raw, January 13, 2003.

Steven Richards vs. Hurricane

Set up earlier, meaning Trish and Victoria are with the guys here. Steven’s suplex is countered and Hurricane takes him down with a clothesline. Hurricane hits the Blockbuster (minus most of the flip) and the Eye of the Hurricane for the pin in less than 90 seconds.

From Raw, September 8, 2003.

Scott Steiner vs. Steven Richards

Somehow Steiner has a job at this point. He also has Stacy who is his girlfriend/head freak at this point, which would change very soon. This is angle advancement for Steiner vs. Test, the latter of which is at ringside here. Richards tries to jump Steiner to start and gets pounded down in the corner as a result. There’s a clothesline for Richards and it’s push-up time. Richards gets a boot up in the corner but walks into a Downward Spiral for the pin. Nothing match here.

One more Raw match on May 3, 2004.

Kane vs. Steven Richards

Chokeslam, pin, 37 seconds.

So it’s pretty clear that a change is in order and thankfully that came in the form of JBL being a jerk and attacking Blue Meanie for real at One Night Stand 2005. The result was the BWO getting a PPV match at Great American Bash 2005.

Mexicools vs. BWO

Oh where do I begin. Ok so the Mexicools are Juvy, Psicosis and Super Crazy as really stereotypocal Mexicans (ride lawnmowers, carry rakes etc). The BWO is here because at One Night Stand, JBL legitimately beat up Blue Meanie. WWE gave Meanie a job for like two months so he didn’t sue them. This is their only match of note. The BWO comes out on big wheels for absolutely no apparent reason. American Chopper joke maybe?

Juvy vs. Nova starts us off. Things break down and the BWO takes over. Psicosis finally hits a corkscrew plancha to take over on Nova. Back to Juvy as Nova gets beaten down. He Hulks Up (NWO parody remember…..in 2005) and Cole messes up the BWO’s names. Hot tag brings in Richards who cleans house. Side slam gets two on Psicosis. Everything breaks down and Crazy hits a moonsault onto Richards followed by a guillotine legdrop by Psicosis for the pin.

Rating: F. This was on PPV. Once you get that through your heads, you’ll get why this was a failure.

Richards would be part of the new ECW, including this match on SNME XXXIII.

Sabu vs. Stevie Richards

And here’s your token ECW match that no one will care about. This is an extreme rules match thank goodness. Richards is talented if nothing else. He doesn’t get an entrance though so there we are. Sabu kind of hits a triple jump moonsault but kind of doesn’t which is a good result for him. It’s table time and an Arabian Facebuster later we’re done.

Rating: N/A. Sabu would be gone in a few weeks as Van Dam and he had gotten caught in the car with the pot and the kettle and the dinette set.

Here’s a slightly more competitive match on ECW on Sci-Fi, May 15, 2007.

CM Punk vs. Stevie Richards

Richards is very fired up here and Punk has taped up ribs. Punk fires off some kicks and nails a t-bone suplex for two. Stevie comes back with a knee to the ribs and rips off the tape to kick at the ribs even more. Off to a bow and arrow but Punk floats over and gets two off a jackknife cover. A double stomp to the rips gets two on Punk and we hit the abdominal stretch. Richards misses a charge in the corner and Punk fires off his usual kicks and knees but to the back. A neckbreaker out of the corner gets two and the GTS is good for the pin.

Rating: C. I liked this more than I thought I would as Richards was thinking out there by going after the injured body part. You would be surprised how many wrestlers would ignore the big taped up ribs and go after an arm or a leg. It’s such a basic idea and that’s all you need to do a lot of the time.

Richards would jump to TNA as a doctor (don’t ask), starting at Victory Road 2009.

Abyss vs. Stevie Richards

I’m in awe of how stupid this angle and character is but whatever. Abyss has just started wearing his current entrance attire that makes him look like a homeless man. Stevie has some kind of pipe or something and beats on Abyss with it. They continue to confuse me by calling him Stevie Richards and acknowledge his background in wrestling.

I’m not even going to rant about how stupid that is but whatever. Again we’re told how great Abyss can be. And again we ignore that he’s a former world champion. Are they ashamed of that or something? They say AJ is a former world champion here even though he had only won NWA Titles at this point. I really hate that clapping Abyss does.

It’s stupid when Christian does it but it’s just freaking idiotic when Abyss does it. We head into the crowd so we can kill off some time to go along with the brain cells. Seriously, what is the appeal of the monster being all child-like? Is that supposed to be interesting or funny or something? I’d assume it’s based off of being ironic or something but in order for irony to work it needs to be interesting which this just flat out isn’t.

Since it’s TNA, of course Stevie starts bleeding. That’s a real problem with TNA today: they think blood makes a match better. Blood can help a match, but only when it’s done both in moderation as well as properly. TNA has a real issue with it as they do it so often that it loses all effectiveness. The fans are insane and rather annoying here, wanting Stevie to get hurt more and more.

Somewhere a man named Lee is crying. And now it’s chair time because we need to kill off more time in this match. Just like the previous match, this is a glorified squash. He pulls Stevie up after two from Shock Treatment. Daffney brings Stevie a stun gun that he’s used lately. Instead he runs into a Black Hole Slam. He uses the tazer on him and smoke comes out of it. There’s the pin and I need a stiff drink.

Rating: D. This was even worse than the previous match as this one was even more of a squash. It was about 95% Abyss dominance which isn’t interesting at all. Then again neither of these guys are interesting characters so that likely has a lot to do with it. Richards as a doctor never quite worked.

Time for an ECW reunion show at Hardcore Justice 2010.

PJ Polaco vs. Stevie Richards

Richards has the BWO with them despite not being Big Stevie Cool here. The fans chant Polaco’s name (Justin Credible which I’ll be referring to him as) and then Stevie Richards. The fans want blood and an hour (almost) into it we haven’t had any. Justin hits a jumping spinning DDT which was one of his signature moves back in the day at least.

The fake Meanie is one of the Phi Delta Slam guys if anyone remembers them. He’s a security guard at times too. The matches here aren’t completely awful but this comes off as so low rent that it just can’t be taken seriously. And remember, this is TNA’s PPV offering this month. It’s not like the real PPV is next week or anything. This is it for August.

And That’s Incredible ends….nothing as Nova jumps up. Stevie Kick ends this in something that would NEVER have happened in the original company. The lights go out and Sandman is here to no music at all. White Russian Leg Sweep and Justin is back up before like a second. Cane shots put him down again.

Rating: D+. Not too bad here but the booking was just bad. I know Justin is crap but he was world champion for five months in the old days while Stevie was billed as a clueless putz. This didn’t work that well but it could have been FAR worse. Keep in mind that these grades are on an adjusted scale here as most of these would be fails or worse.

One final match at Bound For Glory 2010 with Richards as part of EV 2.0.

Fourtune vs. EV 2.0

This is a one ring WarGames match. A man from each team starts and after a set amount of time (5 minutes I think) there’s a coin toss and another guy comes in from the winning team. That goes on for two minutes then a guy from the losing team comes in. Two more minutes of that and then the winning team gets the advantage again. Alternate until all 8 are in and then we lower the roof, complete with weapons. No pins or submissions until everyone is in.

EV has Dreamer, Sabu, Rhyno, Richards and Raven. Yeah ten people in there great. Foley is with them. Flair brings out AJ, Storm, Roode, Kaz and Morgan. Fourtune has the advantage so screw the coin flip idea. Flair is in an undershirt. Oh dear.

The old guys go at it before the match starts and we try to figure out who starts the match. Kaz and Richards to start. Again Taz wants to say ECW and can’t do it. Kaz beats the heck out of him to start. And he continues doing so. Well that’s what you get for sending in Richards as your leadoff man.

Stevie gets a Downward Spiral into a modified Koji Clutch but AJ comes in seconds later to make it 2-1. Richards is of course in WAY over his head and gets destroyed. Figure four on Richards and he’s almost dead. Dreamer is in next. How in the world is this guy feuding with AJ Styles?

Dreamer spits mist or something at AJ as Richards gets back into it. All of Fourtune is in blue which is a cool idea I guess. Roode goes in third as this is going to take awhile to just get everyone in. Flair punches Dreamer through the camera hole. I love that thing as it gives you far better shots.

Sabu comes in and hooks a seated crossface chickenwing on AJ which we’ll call a camel clutch for fun I guess. This is REALLY slow now with EV controlling. Dreamer is bleeding fairly badly. Storm is in so it’ll be Morgan and Raven or Rhyno in last. Storm turns the tide and we get BEER MONEY!

With nothing left in the other minute here’s Raven who looks stupid with blonde hair. He cleans some house and shoves a snot rag in someone’s face. Ah ok it was Roode. Dreamer gets his crotch stepped on for fun. Dude seriously, Raven is your hot tag in essence? Roode is busted open.

Sabu is busted too. Morgan comes in as the final member of Fourtune. He drills Richards and drills Sabu back first into the cage. Dreamer takes the elbows in the corner as the advantage does the same thing it’s done the whole time so far. Raven is bleeding too so every member of EV who is in the match is busted.

Big Gore to Storm and here comes the roof. This is where the advantage is supposed to come for EV I guess. Flair and Foley get into it of course as is their custom. EV takes over and there are bigger weapons on top of the cage such as a table, a ladder and something else that I can’t make out.

Raven and Morgan beat the tar out of each other as EV is mostly in control. Morgan goes for the Carbon Footprint and misses, hitting the door which doesn’t move at all. Kaz gets drilled into the door and there it goes. Richards and Kaz go up and we set up the ladder up there. This always scared the living heck out of me.

Sabu dives through the door to take out Morgan and maybe Storm. Richards sets up the table on top of the cage and Kaz goes up the ladder and here’s Kendrick on top of the cage too. Kaz goes through the table and Kendrick appears to be meditating or something. In the ring Dreamer drills AJ in the leg and drops him on a chair, winning the match. Yes, EV won the match and everything seems to be fine with it. WELL OF COURSE THEY ARE.

Rating: D+. Not much here as there were a lot of very slow spots. Also the Kendrick thing just did nothing for it. The weapons were ok but the ending felt kind of tacked on. This never got to the level that they wanted it to get to and that hurt it a lot. This was one of the weaker matches they’ve done with this gimmick and I think a lot of that is due to the participants. Oh yeah. DID I MENTION EV 2.0 JUST FREAKING BEAT FOURTUNE and that TOMMY DREAMER PINNED AJ FREAKING STYLES??? And people wonder why this company can’t be taken seriously.

I’m going to wrap it up there because I don’t think I can manage to sit through Stevie Richards as champion of an ECW tribute promotion. Richards is a guy whose athletic abilities are underrated but his comedy stuff more than makes up for it. He’s a talented guy and found his niche as a goofy lackey to someone like Raven. The guy is good and nailed the role he was given most of the time.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Knock knock. Today is Chris Harris.

Harris got started in 1994 and we’ll pick things up on Superstars on August 24, 1996.

Faarooq vs. Chris Harris

Faarooq is still the gladiator here and has Sunny with him. Harris scores with an early dropkick but a second attempt is slapped away. Faarooq just hammers him down and nails a powerslam before the Dominator gets the pin.

Harris would get signed to WCW in the dying days. Here he is on Worldwide, September 2, 2000.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Harris vs. Elix Skipper

Elix is defending of course and jumps Harris to start. Chris tries a headlock but gets forearmed in the face. A big shoulder drops the champion and a clothesline puts him down on the floor. Harris follows him out with a plancha and is in full control so far. Back in and Elix slingshots into a headscissors, followed by a belly to belly suplex for two. A missile dropkick (with Elix landing on his feet) gets two on Harris and we hit the chinlock. Chris fights back with a swinging neckbreaker and a suplex before going up top for a high cross body. Elix pops up at two and grabs the Play of the Day for the pin to retain.

Rating: C. This wasn’t bad with Harris getting to show off instead of just getting squashed. He had a great look and could fly well enough here but it’s not like it really mattered in late 2000 WCW. They wanted to make him a country singer which would have gone as well as you would expect it to, so maybe it was lucky for him that they went under when they did.

Another Worldwide match on February 10, 2001.

Shannon Moore vs. Chris Harris

Shannon flips over him to start and nails Harris with a shoulder block. A rollup gets two for Moore but Harris hammers away in the corner and throws Shannon over the corner and out to the floor. Chris planchas out to the floor and takes Shannon down. Back in and a monkey flip and hard clothesline are good for two on Moore. Shannon comes back by slamming Harris head first onto the mat and stomps away. Something resembling a Whisper in the Wind gets two for Shannon. A Fameasser gets the same but Harris comes back with a swinging neckbreaker. Moore shrugs it off and hits a sleeper drop for the pin.

Rating: C-. Harris had potential but he needed some better surroundings. The important thing here though is he’s getting ring time and can say he was on TV in one of the major promotions in the country. Moore’s in ring work is underrated but he never really went all that far.

Harris would head to TNA for his most successful run. We’ll start on Weekly PPV #2.

NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament First Round: James Storm/Chris Harris vs. The Johnsons

Oh geez it’s the Johnsons. They’re named Dick and Rod and we’ll say Rod starts with Harris. Harris speeds things up and hits some armdrags followed by a Thesz Press to take over. Off to Storm who hits a headscissors to put Rod down. The Johnsons start cheating and hit a double powerbomb on Storm to take over.

A suplex puts Storm down and a double shoulder block gets two. We’ll say Dick jumps into a boot and Storm superkicks him down. There’s the hot tag to Harris who cleans house. He spears Rod down but his cross body gets caught. Storm dropkicks Harris’ back so that he falls on Rod for the pin to advance.

Rating: D+. Nothing special here but you could see the talent in the team that would become known as AMW. At the end of the day here though, they were a joke written by someone with the mind of a five year old. There’s only so much credibility you can give to a match like this one. The ending was good though and that dropkick was pretty awesome looking.

Harris and Storm would become known as America’s Most Wanted and here’s their first title win at Weekly PPV #12.

Gauntlet for the Gold

There are twenty people (ten teams) in this with two individuals starting. It’s a Royal Rumble style match and when there are two people left, the partners return for a tag match for the vacant titles, which were vacated when AJ/Lynn had a double pin against Jarrett/Killings. Brian Lawler is #1 and James Storm is #2. Lawler crotches him on the ropes before the bell but Storm fires off right hands. Apparently Chris Harris is going to be #20.

Storm pounds away to start and a missile dropkick puts Brian down. With nothing else happening, here’s Jose Maximo at #3. Lawler gets double teamed in the corner for a bit before fighting both guys off. Derek Wyles is #4 but after some headscissors, Lawler throws him out. Joel is dumped too and we’re back to Storm vs. Lawler. Actually scratch that as Lawler eliminates his third guy in a row by sending Storm out. You know, because Brian Lawler is AWESOME.

Buff Bagwell is #5 and he comes in with middle fingers blazing. Oh wait he’s Marcus Bagwell here, despite looking and wrestling like he has for years. Bagwell hits a neckbreaker and pounds away in the corner until Kobain is #6. Lawler again gets to dominate some more talented people until Ace Steele is #7. There’s nothing of note to talk about here as it’s just standing around and slowly beating on each other in the corner with Lawler biting Bagwell’s head.

Jorge Estrada is #8 and gets chopped by Steele. The ring is getting too full now. Lawler hits Bagwell low in the corner and Brian Lee is #9. Hopefully he can throw some of these little men out. We don’t get that of course since that would help the match, so here’s Syxx-Pac at #10. Syxx cleans house and dumps Jose off a chop (yes a chop) before hitting the Bronco Buster on Marcus.

CM Punk (Steele’s partner) is #11 but Steele is thrown out before Punk makes it to the ring. We hear about how impressive it is that Lawler has lasted ELEVEN minutes as Jimmy Rave (Derrick Wylde) is #12. Punk hits a Rey Mysterio sitout bulldog on Rave as there are too many people out there. Ron Harris (Brian Lee) is #13 to give us our first full team. Their dominance is shown as they send Jorge to the apron, but the Karate Elvis (again, seriously) sunset flips Lee down to survive. The second attempt works though and Estrada is gone.

Punk and Rave are tossed by the big guys as well, meaning two full teams are eliminated. Syxx sends out Bagwell and Lawler (no fanfare, which is odd as the announcers have spent ten minutes worshipping the guy) as BG James (Marcus Bagwell) is #14. We get heel miscommunication between Lee and Harris but Road Dogg (blonde here for some reason) gets stomped down I the corner. Joel Maximo (Jose Maximo) is #15 and is out about two seconds later.

Syxx gets hit with a big double spinebuster but since Waltman is a GIANT KILLER he clotheslines both of them down at once. Since we haven’t seen enough of him tonight, here’s Brian Lawler AGAIN to throw out Syxx. Slash (Kobain) is #16 and BG James is triple teamed. Sonni Siaki (Jorge Estrada) is #17 and he goes after Slash to give James a breather.

Disco Inferno (Brian Lawler) is #18 as the match continues to drag. Scott Hall (Syxx Pac) is #19 and he pounds away on Lee. Ron Harris is dumped out and Chris Harris (James Storm) is #20, giving us a final grouping of Hall, Chris Harris, Siaki, Disco, James and Lee. The announcers aren’t sure if Slash was eliminated despite seeing him go over the top. Siaki is dumped and Disco gets caught between Hall and BG until Hall finally knocks him out. Hall and James square off but Lee jumps both guys for stereo eliminations, getting us down to Harris vs. Lee, meaning the battle royal is over.

Rating: D. This was long and dull with the partner thing going almost nowhere. Between that and the worship of Brian Lawler, this never went anywhere. The fast intervals helped, but so many of these people are unknown for the most part, which makes it hard to care about any of them. Also the two giants looked pitiful out there for the most part which didn’t do them any favors.

Tag Titles: James Storm/Chris Harris vs. Brian Lee/Ron Haris

Ron chokeslams James on the stage to start things off as a handicap match. Also here’s Jeff Jarrett to beat up BG James and take the focus off the title match. Lee kicks Chris in the face as AMW (are they even called that yet?) is in big trouble. Chris comes back for a bit but gets clotheslined down for two. West points out the problem here: too many people named James and Harris.

Storm finally gets back in and cleans house, only to get caught in a chokeslam/belly to back suplex combo for no cover. Ron pulls out a table for no apparent reason and lays Storm out on top of it. Lee loads up Chris in a chokeslam but gets rolled up (and into the ropes) to give AMW the pin and the titles.

Rating: D. This was barely even a match with Chris getting beaten down for a few minutes and Storm being on the floor most of the time. The table thing was stupid and the ending was even worse as both guys were in the ropes for the fall and the referee counted it anyway. Nothing to see here, but at least the right team won.

One of AMW’s major feuds was with XXX, including this match at Weekly PPV #50.

Tag Titles: Triple X vs. America’s Most Wanted

From June 25, 2003 and inside a cage. This isn’t the famous cage match these teams had but I’ve seen this one before and it’s awesome as well. The champions XXX are comprised of Elix Skipper and Christopher Daniels while the challengers are James Storm/Chris Harris. This is the fifth match but XXX has won via outside interference every single time. This is also TNA’s first ever cage match.

It’s a brawl to start but the referee makes them tag to get on my nerves. Harris bulldogs Daniels down before AMW picks up Skipper and launches him into Daniels. This is pin or submission only, meaning escape doesn’t count. Daniels and Harris are the official starters and the fans chant for the Fallen Angel. Skipper gets in a cheap shot from the apron before throwing him face first into the cage for two. Harris is already busted open.

The champions take turns stomping on Harris’ forehead until Daniels gets two off a springboard moonsault press by Skipper. Harris gets a lucky shot off a running clothesline but Daniels kicks his head off for two. Back to Skipper who sends Harris into the cage again but Harris comes off the ropes with another clothesline. There’s the hot tag to Storm who cleans house, sending Skipper chest first into the cage with a reverse suplex. A powerslam gets two on Daniels but he kicks Storm’s knee out to slow him down.

We get a Kill the Cowboy chant, which is hopefully a remnant from the early days of the company rather than the fans not liking Storm’s current work. The champions hit a suplex/cross body combo on the bloody Storm but Skipper’s ribs are injured from being sent into the cage. Back up and the two of them rams heads, setting up a double tag to Harris and Daniels. Harris takes over with the raw power by ramming Daniels head first into the cage over and over. Skipper’s ribs get reacquainted with the steel as well as Daniels is busted open too.

Harris loads up the Catatonic (spinning Rock Bottom) but Daniels counters into the Angel’s Wings (lifting sitout Pedigree) for a very close two. Everything breaks down and Daniels blocks a reverse tornado DDT by taking Storm onto the top rope for an STO to the mat. Skipper belly to bellys Harris down before sending him into the cage again. Elix goes up top for no apparent reason but gets powerbombed down in a HUGE crash to give Harris a near fall.

Daniels hits Last Rites (Cross Rhodes) on Storm for an even closer two as Harris makes yet another save. Harris and Daniels go up top but Daniels backs away across the rope, allowing Harris to hit a diving spear for an even closer near fall. Skipper takes Harris down with the Play of the Day before going for a very big climb. Elix dives off the top with a high cross body but reinjures his ribs in the process. STORYTELLING BABY!

A delayed cover gets two so Skipper goes up again, only to be knocked down a bit and then out to the floor. Storm superkicks Daniels down and the Death Sentence (spinebuster/legdrop) mostly misses Daniels for two. Skipper tries to climb back in but gets knocked back to the floor. Harris goes up to the very top of the cage for a HUGE Death Sentence to crush Daniels for the pin and the titles.

Rating: A. There’s your price of admission right there. This was all about taking two teams and having them beat the tar out of each other for twenty minutes. On top of that we have the story of Skipper’s ribs in a good piece of psychology, a rarity in matches like these. The amazing thing is these four would top this effort in another cage match at Turning Point the following year. Great match.

AMW would get the chance to get the titles back on Impact, June 4, 2004.

Tag Titles: America’s Most Wanted vs. Kid Kash/Dallas

AMW is challenging. The idea is Kash and Dallas have been ducking the only team they know can take the titles but tonight they’re out of places to run. The winners here have to defend against the winners of a fan poll next Wednesday night. Kash and Storm get us going with the Cowboy taking him down by the arm. Off to Harris for a clothesline and bulldog for two but Dallas makes the save.

Back to Storm who gets caught in a hot shot, allowing for the tag off to the big man Dallas. We take a break and come back with Storm superkicking Kash down, only to have Dallas make the save at two. Kash goes to the corner and climbs onto Kash’s shoulders but misses the moonsault, allowing for the hot tag off to Harris. A cross body and clothesline get two each on Dallas as everything breaks down. Dallas loads up Storm in a reverse Razor’s Edge before flipping him down onto his back for a frog splash from Kid but Harris spears Kash down. Dallas kicks Harris in the face but Storm rolls him up for the pin and the titles.

Rating: C+. Basic tag formula here with a title change to give the show some historical significance. AMW continues to be the best team ever in TNA as they have that chemistry that you only see in great teams. Kash and Dallas were just placeholder champions until AMW stopped their singles stuff over the last month or so.

Here’s the famous match with AMW vs. XXX from Turning Point 2004.

America’s Most Wanted vs. Triple X

This is one of the things that TNA did that was indeed different: sometimes something other than the heavyweight title feud ended the show, which is definitely a good idea here. The six man was just ok but this was a great match. This is in a cage remember. AMW brings in handcuffs. That‘s a signature thing for them and they‘ll come into play later so remember that.

They have to tag here but I‘ll give that ten minutes tops. Daniels and Storm start us off. Is there a significance to the tape that Daniels puts on his left shoulder that I‘ve never gotten? I‘ve always wondered that. Off to Daniels who kicks Storm in the back to take control. It breaks down quickly and AMW double teams Daniels. Off to Harris as Daniels is already busted open.

Skipper (XXX is Daniels/Elix Skipper if you weren‘t sure on that one) gets his team the advantage and gives it back over to Daniels. He‘s GUSHING already. Harris takes Skipper down and it‘s back to Storm. Powerslam puts Daniels down. They load up the Death Sentence on Skipper but Daniels makes the save. Skipper pulls a towel back and handcuffs Harris to the post. West: “Oh what a dirty trick!” Yes, handcuffing your mortal enemy to a cage and making him defenseless is the same sort of thing you would hear on The Brady Bunch Don. Well called.

XXX double teams Storm and Daniels taunts Harris with the key. They drive the key into the head of Storm and hit a double team powerbomb/elbow combination for two. We get some heel miscommunication and Storm spears Daniels. There‘s the key and Harris in free. That‘s a nice twist on the hot tag because it‘s basically the same thing. Harris cleans house and Storm is back up too.

I think everyone but Harris is bleeding. Triple X gets rammed into the cage multiple times but Skipper grabs a belly to belly to Harris. A suplex/cross body combo gets two. Hart Attack gets two on Skipper. Daniels hits a quick Downward Spiral to Storm and Harris goes into the steel. Harris is busted too. Death Sentence (AMW‘s finisher) gets two on Harris who kicks out.

Skipper goes to the top of the cage (I don‘t think you can win by escape) to Harris POWERBOMBS HIM OFF THE CAGE for two. FOR TWO. Angel‘s Wings gets two for Daniels. Daniels goes up but Harris follows him. Now it‘s time for the highlight reel moment to end all highlight reel moments in TNA. Skipper is sitting on another corner than Harris and TIGHTROPE WALKS THE EDGE OF THE CAGE AND HURRICANRANAS HARRIS TO THE MAT!!! WOW!

Daniels IMMEDIATELY drops an elbow off the top of the cage BUT IT GETS TWO. Daniels goes back up as we watch replays for a four man Tower of Doom. Daniels overrotates and lands on his face. Harris powerbombed Skipper who electric chaired Storm who suplexed Daniels. Everyone is pretty much dead but Skipper and Harris counter each others‘ finishers. Everyone knocks everyone else down and Harris handcuffs Daniels to the cage in a nice play off what happened to him earlier. Last Call to Skipper and AMW pins him with XXX‘s PowerPlex to split up XXX.

Rating: A+. What else did you expect me to give this? This match holds up incredibly well with the few moments from the cage walk to the Tower of Doom being as breathtaking as you‘ll ever see. Absolutely awesome match and if you‘re a fan of bloodbath cage matches that leave your jaw hanging open, find this right now because it‘s excellent.

AMW would turn heel in late 2005 and defend the titles at Bound For Glory 2005.

Tag Team Titles; Naturals vs. AMW

The Naturals are Chase Stevens and Andy Douglas and the champs have Gail Kim in their corner. It’s a big brawl to start with the Naturals in full control on the floor. Things settle down with Stevens vs. Storm in the ring but the Naturals double team him into a running powerbomb against the barricade. Harris gets double teamed in the ring as Storm stumbles up the ramp.

The Naturals go after him to keep up the beating and both champs are sent into the barricade. Douglas chokes Harris with tape until Gail Kim offers a distraction, allowing Harris to send him into the metal tress. Andy is busted open and AMW goes after the cut as we get down to a regular tag match. Eye of the Storm gets two on Andy but he’s able to get over to the corner for the hot tag.

Stevens cleans house and Storm hits Harris by mistake. Storm misses a pair of superkicks and gets nailed by Stevens for two. Gail throws in some powder but Stevens knocks it into Harris’ face, causing him to hit the Cataonic on James. The Naturals hit AMW’s Death Sentence for two on Harris. They load up the Natural Disaster (elevated Stunner) but Gail comes in to break it up. Douglas goes after her but Harris gets up and handcuffs him to the barricade. More distractions let Storm bust a beer bottle over Stevens’ head, setting up the Death Sentence to retain the titles.

Rating: B. This was a really solid brawl with the Naturals getting as close as they could to winning the titles. AMW had only won the belts back a few days before this so they weren’t about to drop them this fast. They’re the best team TNA ever had and there’s no reason to have them lose this fast. It also helps that they so rarely beat the Naturals, who were billed as the team AMW couldn’t figure out for awhile.

Here’s a dream match from Final Resolution 2006.

Tag Titles: America’s Most Wanted vs. Team 3D

We get big match intros and we’re ready to go. D-Von and Storm get things going in what would be a very different match today. Storm takes him down to the mat with a headlock but gets hiptossed and dropkicked down. Harris jumps D-Von from behind and the champs take over. Scratch that as D-Von hits a double clothesline to take over again. Off to Ray as things speed up. One thing you can never say about Ray is that he’s dull. The guy knows how to keep people fired up.

Harris clotheslines Ray down for two and it’s a standoff. They go to the corner and Ray fires off his chops. The middle rope backsplash misses (duh) and it’s back to Storm. Ray is like screw that and cleans house before bringing D-Von back in. A spinebuster gets two on Storm, and What’s Up Cowboy? The Dudleys go for a table because disqualifications mean jack in this company, but AMW dropkicks it into their faces.

Harris takes D-Von down with some tape to the throat and it’s off to Storm for a chinlock. Back to Harris but he gets sent into the post shoulder first. Hot tag brings in Ray and house is cleaned. Side slam gets two on Harris and heel miscommunication lets Ray hit a DDT for two on Wildcat. Everything breaks down and AMW hits a modified Hart Attack for two o Ray. They loads up the Death Sentence but D-Von makes the save.

Ray returns the favor by breaking up a superplex and the Doomsday Device gets two as well. Harris makes the save and gets two on Ray off a big boot. Storm grabs a chair but accidentally clocks Harris into the reverse 3D for two. Bubba shoves Storm off the top through a table and a rollup gets a VERY close two on Harris. Gail hands (not slips, hands while in the ring) Harris powder but Ray knocks it into the referee’s eyes. 3D gets the pin and the titles, but remember that the referee is blind.

Rating: B. This was getting good at the end, but that powder looks like Instant Dusty to me. TNA did a good job at pushing its tag teams at this point and making them seem to be like something that actually mattered. This was a good example of that as the fans were wanting to see the title change here, and that’s what they got.

Another dream match from Sacrifice 2006.

Tag Titles: America’s Most Wanted vs. Christopher Daniels/AJ Styles

Styles and Daniels jump the champions to start and Daniels/Harris go to the floor so AJ can hit the dropdown dropkick on the Cowboy. Daniels comes in and we’re ready to go. He takes Storm down and cranks on the arm but it’s off to Harris who runs Daniels over. The challengers double team Storm and Harris’ full nelson slam is countered into a bridging Indian Deathlock with a chinlock but the Cowboy makes the save.

Styles comes in legally now and the challengers tag in and out quickly to work on the arm. AMW finally starts cheating and get Daniels into the corner to take over. The champs cheat like true heel champions would do with choking and face pulling before Harris hooks a chinlock. A back elbow gets two on the Fallen Angel. Daniels counters an Irish whip to send Storm’s shoulder into the post and it’s hot tag to AJ.

AJ speeds things way up with his headscissors but Storm makes the save. Daniels gets tagged back in for some reason and we get a Tower of Doom with Daniels on top. Oh scratch that as he shoves the Tower down and hits a top rope cross body for two on Harris. I wish AMW would have their names on their trunks because when their backs are to the camera it’s very hard to tell them apart.

Daniels throws Harris into the crowd and AJ dives from the top rope over the barrier and onto Harris. The match kind of breaks down a bit and everyone is on the floor. A fan has a box of cereal for some reason. Back in and Daniels breaks up the Death Sentence before putting Harris into a fireman’s carry. AJ hits the Pele before the DVD hits to kill Harris dead. BME misses but the Last Call does as well. Harris hits his spear to take Daniels down for two.

It’s Storm vs. Daniels legally now but Daniels hits a double clothesline to bring in Styles. AJ goes up high with a double clothesline of his own but he charges into a boot from Storm. AJ loads up a superplex but Harris makes the save, resulting in a Doomsday Device into a reverse tornado DDT by Storm for two. That looked awesome.

Daniels comes back in for the save and the challengers hit a BME/Frog Splash combo for two on Storm. Styles tries the Clash but the Cowboy escapes with a low blow and the superkick for two. Angel’s Wings hits Storm for two as Harris makes the save. This is getting awesome. Daniels, Harris and the referee get knocked to the floor and something falls from the rafters into the ring. It’s a nightstick and Gail Kim is seen in the rafters. AJ hits the Clash on Storm but Harris blasts him in the back of the head with the nightstick for the pin to retain.

Rating: B+. This was getting awesome at the end but we had to have Gail Kim interfere to end the thing. This would set up another match at Slammiversary which wasn’t as good but it gave us the title change which we needed. Still though, this was the old school idea of putting four guys out there and giving them fifteen minutes to have a great match. As usual, it worked.

The team had to split eventually and have the required feud. They had a horrible match at Lockdown 2007 but we’ll look at the great match from Sacrifice 2007.

Chris Harris vs. James Storm

This is a Texas Death Match, which is last man standing but you have to get a pin or submission before the ten count begins. Both guys are in street clothes. In a cool visual, Harris rips up an AMW shirt on his way to the ring. This feels like it’s going to be awesome which is a very good sign. They slug it out in the aisle and Harris has the trademark handcuffs.

They go into the crowd almost immediately and Storm is running away. They’re in the back row of the arena and Storm is almost thrown over the wall in the back. I wonder what’s back there. Maybe it’s where they keep Shark Boy? All Harris so far as they head to the ring. Storm throws a drink in Harris’ face to shift momentum but Storm gets thrown into a wall to changes things right back again.

Harris is in the ring alone and has a beer and a chair. Storm is still over the railing so Harris hits a HUGE dive over the railing to kill Storm dead and gets a pin. Storm is up at 8 though. Harris goes up again but Storm knocks him off and gets his leg tied up in the ropes so that he’s in a Tree of Woe but hanging outside the ropes. Storm cracks him with a chair to the head and Harris is busted.

It’s Table Time as Harris is placed on the top rope. He avoids a hurricanrana and counters a sunset flip (???) into a Sharpshooter of all things. Well it takes out the legs so that makes sense. He can’t get it on so he kicks Storm in the balls. He catapults Storm face first into the bottom of the table, cutting him open on the metal part. FREAKING OW MAN!!! Harris can’t suplex him through the table so Storm kicks him low to balance things out.

Storm hits the Eye of the Storm to put Harris through the table. That looked awesome and it gets an academic pin but only gets nine. Here’s another table brought in by the Cowboy. He falls down trying to get it in though, probably due to blood loss. The table is on the outside but Storm can’t hit another Eye over the top. Harris goes to the apron and gets caught in an Elevated DDT for no cover.

Storm brings in various basic hardcore weapons but as he’s getting in himself, Harris spears him through the ropes to put him through the table. Not exactly Foley vs. Edge but not bad. Back in, Harris picks up a chair and Storm superkicks it into his face for two. Storm is STUNNED. You can’t see Storm’s face. It’s literally a crimson mask. They trade HARD trashcan lid shots and Harris hits the Catatonic (spinning Rock Bottom) onto a trashcan for two.

Now the match gets taken down a peg because Jackie Freaking Moore has to get involved. WHY DOES SHE ALWAYS HAVE A JOB??? She isn’t attractive, she’s nothing special in the ring, she’s always getting in the way, and NO ONE FREAKING CARES ABOUT HER. And if you say you do, you’re lying. Gail Kim comes out and cuffs her so she can drag her out of here. Both guys have beer bottles and Harris gets a shot to the head of Storm for the pin and the ten count. Perfect way to end it.

Rating: A. GREAT brawl and war here which is exactly what they needed to do. Tenay and West freak out and say how great it is and for once this year, they’re right. This was a blood war and Storm’s face is absolutely scary given how much blood there was on it. Great match and absolutely worth seeing based on the level of violence here.

Based off of that win, Harris would get a World Title shot at Slammiversary 2007.

TNA World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Christian Cage vs. Chris Harris

This is King of the Mountain and the title is vacant. Ok so King of the Mountain is TNA’s signature match, or at least it was before Hogan and Bischoff took over. There are five guys and there is a place to hang the belt above the ring. In essence, it’s a reverse ladder match because you have to hang the belt above the ring. Before you’re allowed to do that though, you have to qualify by pinning someone else. When someone is pinned that person has to go to the penalty box for two minutes. Got all that?

Joe goes right after Angle. Cornette is holding the belt. This is kind of a mess at first which makes it really hard to call. Cage and Styles beat up Harris and then Styles lays down for Cage. Angle makes the save but Joe wants to hurt him some more. Styles takes Harris down again and wants Christian to lay down. Christian says no so Styles rolls him up for two. The camera is all over the place, making it really hard to keep up with.

Joe and Christian are in the ring now and down goes the Canadian. Off to Harris but the Cataonic and Unprettier both miss. A full nelson slam puts Christian down but Styles breaks it up. He gets caught in the Catatonic for a fast pin by Harris, making him eligible. The clock for AJ is at 1:30 by the time he gets in the cage. Harris and Cage fight on the floor so Joe throws a ladder at them.

Back to Angle vs. Joe with the fat boy taking over. Angle grabs a boot though and here are the Rolling Germans. Christian comes in and is in an ankle lock/Koquina Clutch combo. Styles gets out just in time for the save. Cage puts a ladder between the ring and barricade like a bridge. Christian falls down onto it due to a right hand by Harris to crotch him. On top of that he’s stuck there.

In the ring, AJ hits the Pele and springboard forearm to put Joe outside. Styles Clash to Angle is countered into the ankle lock but AJ breaks it, sending Kurt to the floor. AJ gets launched onto Christian onto the ladder. Harris goes up another ladder but Angle Slams him off for a pin to become eligible. Joe THINKS and throws the ladder to the floor. He beats up everyone in sight, hitting a MuscleBuster on AJ for two.

We get a ref bump in a gimmick match. Angle gets put in the choke and he taps, but there’s no referee. Christian hits Joe with a ladder and steals the pin on Kurt. Man there are some smart people in this company. The referee can’t let Harris out even though his time is up. Oh there’s another referee so it doesn’t matter. Joe stops Christian from hanging the belt and hits a huge cutter off the ladder onto the belt.

Harris goes up with the belt and people start booing. A belt shot stops Joe and he hiptosses Christian off, but Styles hits a springboard dropkick to break it up. Angle is out of the box. AJ and Joe climb on top of the box for no apparent reason. AJ kicks Joe low but Joe launches AJ off the top and through the announce table. Harris knocks Joe off the top and Christian is tossed back into the ring after climbing up as well. Harris hits a huge clothesline to kill Angle.

Everyone is down so Harris goes Terry Funk and spins around with the ladder over his head. He goes up AGAIN but Christian knocks him over and into the buckle. Christian goes up but Kurt grabs the ankle lock while the Canadian is still up there. No tap though and they fight on the ladder. Harris spears Christian off and Angle hangs the belt to become champion. How bad is it that I don’t remember him pinning anyone? I had to go back and find where he pinned Harris.

Rating: B. Good match here as the King of the Mountain was its usual insane but fun self. This is TNA’s signature match and almost as usual it gets to be a fun match. Angle winning the title and becoming the first champion is probably the right move. They waited WAY too long on pulling the trigger on Joe, but that’s TNA for you. Good main event though.

Harris would be signed by WWE and be named Braden Walker in one of the dumbest names WWE ever came up with. He had two matches on ECW, starting on July 8, 2008.

Braden Walker vs. Armando Estrada

Braden throws him around to start but Armando hammers away in the corner. A big clothesline drops Walker and Armando puts on a reverse chinlock. Some right hands have Braden in trouble and he gets dropped with a suplex. Estrada misses a charge into the corner and a clothesline puts him down. Walker gets two off a full nelson slam and goes up top for a cross body. He mostly lands on Estrada’s shoulders and neck and gets the pin due to Estrada probably having a broken neck.

Rating: D. Oh yeah this was bad. To be fair Estrada isn’t the best opponent in the world but Walker was about as boring and bland as you could imagine someone being here. He had no charisma at this point and it really showed how he wasn’t ready for a spot this big. It didn’t help that he had clearly gained weight and wasn’t in the shape he was back in TNA.

One more Braden match on ECW, August 5, 2008.

Braden Walker vs. James Curtis

Walker cranks on a wristlock to start before hooking a delayed vertical suplex for two. Off to an armbar until Curtis nails him with a forearm to the face. A big clothesline drops James again and a fisherman’s suplex is good for the quick pin.

Harris would be brought back into TNA for a one off match at Sacrifice 2011.

Tag Titles: Beer Money vs. Matt Hardy/Chris Harris

The former partners start us off as Harris’ tights say America’s Most Wanted. The fans chant Braden Walker and it’s off to Matt before any contact. The champs take over on Matt as Walker is indeed bigger than he was the last time we saw him. Now it’s Harris in against Storm’s new “partner”. Off to Storm now and Harris runs off as Storm glares at him.

The challengers keep using AMW moves on Storm in an attempt at psychology but the gut of Harris keeps covering it up. Codebreaker out of nowhere puts Matt down but Storm needs a tag. Double tag to ZERO reaction and Roode plays face in peril again. Roode gets his back worked on via a middle rope elbow by Hardy and it’s off to a gutwrench.

Finally off to Storm who gets to beat on Harris. Skin the cat sets up an elevated DDT to Harris. Reverse tornado DDT gets two for Storm. He likes those DDTs I guess. Matt breaks up DWI but it’s a Backstabber for him. Catatonic doesn’t work and Roode hits a spinebuster to Harris. The Beer Money shout sets up a superkick to Harris but Storm doesn’t want to do DWI. Instead it’s the Death Sentence (Trash Compactor for you REALLY old school fans) and Harris is done. Matt apparently just walked off and left Harris somewhere near the end.

Rating: C-. Just a match here as Harris dragged this WAY down. He’s terribly out of shape and his selling and timing were way off. It seems like the Harris thing is probably going to lead to an AMW reunion because that’s the best way to use a guy like Storm right? Either way, weak match and not much to write home about at all.

Chris Harris is a guy that worked well in a tag team but never found his niche in a singles run. His stuff with AMW is still the best tag team run in TNA history and isn’t going to be topped anytime soon. The Braden Walker run just killed his credibility though and no one wanted to touch him after that. Harris had his time but it went away very quickly.

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