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 2010
Date: October 10, 2010
Location: Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, Florida
Attendance: 3,500
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

And then it all changed. A few weeks after Bound For Glory 2009, TNA announced the signings of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. The two debuted on January 4, 2010’s Impact and started promising big changes for TNA. This included making AJ Styles a Ric Flair tribute character and having Abyss be granted superpowers via Hall of Fame rings. Around this time, TNA basically stopped being the Little Promotion That Could and tried to take it to WWE, resulting in one of the worst thrashings in wrestling history.

As for the show, this is probably TNA’s biggest pay per view ever and it actually feels like a show you had to see. The main event is the culmination of a months long story where Abyss has been promising that THEY are coming. Along with that, Bischoff and Hogan have been in a power struggle with Dixie Carter while Sting has been saying that he knows what’s really going on. This may or may not be him acting like a crazy psychopath, but we’ll get to that later. I’m sure I’ll find way more to say about this story later. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is a series of clips of most of the people on the card, set to dramatic music. The main focus is on the three guys in the main event: Jeff Hardy, Mr. Anderson and Kurt Angle.

Tenay points out that it’s 10/10/10. They billed this up as once in a century, but isn’t that the case with every date?

The announcers run down the card. This is Abyss’ last match in the company and Angle is going to leave if he doesn’t win.

Tag Team Titles: Motor City Machine Guns vs. Generation Me

Generation Me is challenging and is currently known as the Young Bucks. The Guns FINALLY won the titles a few months ago and now they need some challengers. Shelley and Max (Buck, partner of Jeremy Buck) with Alex getting stomped down in the corner. Back up and a spinning leg trip puts Max down and the Guns take over. Sabin sticks out his boots so Shelley can send Max face first and things speed up.

Back to Shelley for some loud chops on Max’s chest, but Jeremy trips him up from the floor. Sabin kicks Jeremy in the face and Alex nails Max, setting up a double suicide dive to put the Bucks down. They get back inside with Shelley getting crotched on the top and taken down with a double DDT out of the corner. Jeremey nails a nice spinning enziguri for two on Shelley before a running flip neckbreaker into a backbreaker gets two more.

Shelley fights both Bucks off the top and hits a top rope double stomp on Jeremy before making the hot tag off to Sabin. The Guns speed things way up with double hesitation dropkicks to Jeremy in the Tree of Woe. A top rope clothesline gets two on Jeremy and a Dominator/running cutter combination gets the same on Max. Shelley misses a plancha to Jeremy, allowing him to hit a slingshot X Factor on Sabin. Everyone gets back in but the Bucks break up a Doomsday Sliced Bread #2.

Max hits a kind of neckbreaker off the top rope followed by a 450 from Jeremy. Shelly makes a last second save and catches a diving Jeremy in a Downward Spiral while DDTing Max at the same time. Max kicks Sabin in the face and sends Alex outside before a standing moonsault/springboard splash gets two on Shelley. The Bucks load up More Bang For Your Buck (a fast paced series of dives) but Sabin comes back in for a release German superplex to send Max flying. Skull and Bones (neckbreaker/top rope splash combo) is enough to pin Jeremy and retain the titles.

Rating: A-. GREAT choice for an opener here even though I can’t imagine much being able to follow it. The fans are totally hyped for the show and even I was way into this by the end. They kept playing “can you top this” and release German at the end looked great. The Bucks may be jerks but they can put on a spot fest. Really good stuff here.

Madison Rayne is glad that she unbanned Tara and is letting her fight in tonight’s four way. Mickie James can’t just walk into TNA and become the new boss. Actually she can as Mickie is refereeing tonight.

We recap the four way. The new head of the Knockouts division, Miss Tessmacher, is going to make Angelina Love prove she deserves to be champion. This is basically Beautiful People vs. non-Beautiful People.

Knockouts Title: Angelina Love vs. Madison Rayne vs. Velvet Sky vs. Tara

Angelina is defending and Madison has Tara in her back pocket for reinstating her after Tara lost her career in a match earlier in the year. Newcomer Mickie James is guest referee in the same vein that Bret Hart was at Starrcade 1997. You have to tag here so it’s Angelina vs. Madison to start. Rayne quickly tags out to Velvet as Tazz says there’s no tagging. The Beautiful People have to go at it and we get a very basic sequence until they collide to put both girls down.

Madison tags Velvet to come in and chokes Angelina in the corner but gets caught in a flapjack. Tara comes in with a hangman’s choke but Madison runs over to tag in Velvet. Sky gets two off a headscissors followed by something like AJ Lee’s Black Widow. Tazz is shouting about bacon for some reason as Velvet gets two off a faceplant. Madison knees Velvet from the apron and everything breaks down. The Botox Injection drops Tara, the Rayne Drop sends Angelina to the floor and Velvet DDTs Madison. Tara gets back up and grabs a rollup with tights on Velvet for the pin and the title.

Rating: D+. This was when the division was starting to get going, but there was no real reason to have the tags here. Tara winning the title makes sense but, could they at least do something besides the same thing from last year with Nash and Young? Mickie was a total non-factor in this.

Madison freaks out on Tara post match but gets nailed by Mickie. James’ music plays and you would never know Tara won the belt.

Eric Young says Orlando Jordan (the bisexual wrestler) looks at him as a father figure. “Who cares if he’s bi…..polar?” Jordan comes up in a mask and offers Christy a sucker.

Orlando Jordan/Eric Young vs. Ink Inc.

Ink Inc. is a tattooed team comprised of Shannon Moore and Jesse Neal. This is the result of an Xplosion match and Eric is carrying a rulebook and has drawn on tattoos for some reason. Oh this is during Young’s latest crazy period. Jordan and Jesse get things going but Young quickly puts the referee on the apron and takes his place. Things settle down and Jesse gets two off a spinning cross body and it’s off to Shannon for a kick to the face and two.

Young comes in and gets rolled up for two so he congratulates Shannon for his success. He high fives everyone, including a tag to Jordan. Ink Inc. kicks Jordan in the corner and Eric wants to join in, only to get crotched on the top rope. Jordan gets crotched right along with him as comedy abounds. Back in and Orlando grinds on Shannon before planting him with a spinebuster. The fans want Eric but get a Jordan suplex for two on Moore.

Young breaks up Jordan’s cheating to give Moore another two count and now Orlando doesn’t want to tag. Instead Jordan nails Jesse and holds Moore open for a cheap shot but Eric goes over and takes Jesse’s place on the apron. Moore tags Eric in because why not and Young cleans house on Jordan. In the confusing, Shannon loads Jordan up in a fireman’s carry so Neal can hit a top rope neckbreaker for the pin.

Rating: D. If you like Eric Young’s comedy, this was gold. If you’re like me and he makes you want to pound a rusty spike into your eye, this was the longest eight and a half minutes of your life. I will however give him this: at least this was something different than the same four things he would do for years on end.

Jeff Hardy says he’ll win the title with a Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb.

X-Division Title: Jay Lethal vs. Douglas Williams

Jay is defending and this is a rematch from a title match on Impact. They trade wristlocks to start with Douglas taking him down into an armbar. Lethal pops up and spins him down into an armbar of his own. Back up and Williams nails a shot to the ribs to take over, only to get caught in a quick Lethal Combination to send Douglas outside. Back in and Jay misses a springboard dropkick followed by a Williams knee drop for two.

A chinlock doesn’t get Williams anywhere and Jay is quickly up with a backdrop. Some dropkicks put Williams down again and a cross body gets two. Douglas comes back with a running knee to the chest and gets two off a snap suplex. Rolling Chaos (a rolling German suplex out of the corner) is good for a very near fall on the champion. The very grounded challenger tries a top rope hurricanrana but Lethal rolls through into a sunset flip to retain.

Rating: C. This was fine but forgettable and could have been on any given Impact. Lethal never did anything for me and still doesn’t to this day. Williams was the technical guy and the perfect villain for the division so it might have been a good idea to have him get the title before this show and losing it here. Still though, nothing too bad but pretty basic stuff.

Lethal goes into the crowd and gets jumped by Shore, a new act comprised of Cookie and a guy named Robbie E. Jay gets taken to the ring and laid out with with an RKO. Robbie promises to take the title back to New Jersey. Where Lethal is from. Well to be fair Robbie isn’t supposed to be a smart guy.

We recap Rob Van Dam vs. Abyss. The monster had been going crazy and then World Champion Van Dam tried to stop him at the Whole F’N Show. It ended in a huge brawl and Abyss nearly murdering Van Dam with his 2×4 covered in nails called Janice because THEY told him to. Abyss has promised that THEY will be revealed tonight but I can’t imagine it’s before the main event.

Rob Van Dam vs. Abyss

Monster’s Ball and this is Abyss’ last match in TNA for reasons not really explained. Rob hammers away to start and brings in a chair very early. A springboard kick to the face drops Abyss and he skateboards the chair into Abyss’ face in the corner. They head outside with Rob sliding in a barbed wire board, only to get taken down by an elbow to the face. Rob elbows his way out of a chokeslam and regular slam attempt onto the board before kicking Abyss down onto the barbed wire to really fire up the crowd.

Rolling Thunder misses Abyss nad hits the board again, sending Rob out to the floor. A trashcan to the head puts Rob down again and Abyss bridges a table between the ring and the barricade. They slug it out next to the board with Abyss getting the better of it but not being able to suplex Rob through the board. Instead Abyss gets kicked down onto it, allowing Rob to hit Rolling Thunder through the table for a nice crash.

Back in and a Van Daminator staggers Abyss but he pops up before Rob can launch the Van Terminator. Abyss pelts the chair at Rob to knock him off the top and through the barbed wire board at ringside. Back in again and Abyss sets up the barbed wire board in the corner but gets shoved face first into it, allowing Rob to stomp away at the board in the corner. The Van Terminator crushes the board into Abyss but the Five Star misses. Abyss pulls out Janice but Rob pelts a chair at Abyss’ head to knock Janice out of his hands. Van Dam sees Janice and drills the monster in the ribs for the pin.

Rating: B-. This was a good brawl and a solid way to have Rob get his revenge. The problem with Janice is you can’t show what it’s supposed to do because it would kill the guy, so a shot to the ribs is about as good as it’s going to get. Rob should have been the conquering hero here in theory, but it’s not quite the same with Abyss being the prophet for THEY. Still though, good stuff.

Rob leaves and Abyss tells the camera to come to them so he can say here WE come.

We recap the Band vs. Jarrett/Joe. The idea here is Sting and Nash are claiming that Hogan and Bischoff, the good guys, are up to something. It comes off as jealousy and heel turns for both guys, but Sting has never quite gotten to say the whole thing. All we’ve heard is talk of a huge conspiracy and a grand scheme between Hogan, Bischoff and potentially others.

Jarrett is here because he started TNA and supports Dixie while Joe is there because he has nothing else to do. Pope D’Angelo Dinero, a guy who debuted earlier in the year and hasn’t done much, has joined in with Nash and Sting but doesn’t sound nearly as evil as the other two. We’re also told that Hogan will NOT be here due to back surgery. A lot of people, myself included, saw this as a red flag.

Sting/D’Angelo Dinero/Kevin Nash vs. Jeff Jarrett/Samoa Joe

Joe grabs Dinero’s arm to start and runs him over with a shoulder. Dinero comes back with a flying tackle but Joe pops back up and stares at him. Some rights and lefts in the corner don’t have much effect on Joe so it’s off to Sting for a rematch BFG 2008’s main event. Sting hammers away and tries the Stinger Splash, only to charge into the release Rock Bottom. Joe takes Sting outside and nails some left hands to the jaw. Nash comes in from behind with a shot to Joe’s back to give Sting control.

They walk around just like in 2008 but thankfully stay at ringside instead of going through the crowd. It’s off to Nash back inside for some right hands of his own, followed by knees to the ribs in the corner. Back to Dinero for some stompings in the corner, followed by a slingshot elbow drop for two. Joe fights off Dinero, decks Sting and hits an enziguri in the corner to drop Nash. He crawls over to Jarrett but Jeff drops to the floor and leaves. Joe is all alone and tries to fight them off but three guys are too much for him. The Jackknife is enough to pin the Samoan.

Rating: D+. This was storyline advancement even though it didn’t make sense at this time. To be fair though, NOTHING made sense at this point which is what made this such a must see show, as we were finally promised answers. The match was just kind of there, much like Joe who had no connection to anything here. The annoying part here though was we were building to Sting vs. Jarret for months and now they’re either neutral with each other or on the same side.

Anderson says he’s going to end Kurt Angle’s career tonight because he has to.

Here’s Team 3D for a major announcement. Ray talks about all the titles they’ve won and say they don’t have anything left to do. They’re going to retire, but they want one more match against the Motor City Machine Guns for the titles.

The announcers talk about Team 3D’s challenge.

We recap Lethal Lockdown. This is a culture clash with EV 2.0 (Extreme Violence, the ECW reunion) being tired of Fourtune saying they’re not real wrestlers. The team being brought in wound up being one of the major plot points for what’s going on tonight but we’ll cover that at the end. Flair called EV 2.0 a gimmick and says his Fourtune is real wrestling.

Flair says Fourtune is the heart of TNA and that he’s ready for Foley. Each member gets in a jab at EV 2.0.

Fourtune vs. EV 2.0

AJ Styles, Beer Money, Kazarian, Matt Morgan

Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Rhino, Sabu, Stevie Richards

This is a one ring WarGames match. A man from each team starts and after five minutes, Fourtune gets a man advantage due to winning a match on Impact. That goes on for two minutes then a guy from EV 2.0 comes in. Two more minutes of that and then Fourtune gets the advantage again. Alternate until all 10 are in and then we lower the roof, complete with weapons. No pins or submissions until everyone is in. Foley and Flair are the seconds and everyone is at ringside for the match. They get in a brawl before anyone gets in the cage. Fourtune is all in blue here for a good team visual.

Things settle down so Richards and Kaz can get things going. Stevie hammers away to start and sends Kaz into the cage as Tazz isn’t allowed to say ECW. Richards chops him down in the corner before mocking Flair with a strut. A suplex puts Kaz down and there’s a Koji Clutch of all things. The clock runs down after about three minutes and it’s TV (Legends) Champion AJ Styles in for the save.

The drop down into the dropkick plants Richards and Fourtune puts him in a Figure Four with Kaz pulling at Stevie’s arms. Dreamer finally comes in for the save and clotheslines both of them down. A pumphandle suplex drops AJ and a Demolition Decapitator does the same to Kaz. Richards has a bad leg so Dreamer slams him onto Kaz before putting him on the top rope. Stevie tries a superplex but gets caught in a Tower of Doom by AJ, who sends Kaz crashing into Dreamer to put all four down.

Roode comes in to make it 3-2 and sends Dreamer face first into the cage. All of the Fourtune guys are back up now and in full control, with Flair helping by throwing punches through the camera hole. The destruction continues until Sabu comes in to make the save and somehow revive all of his partners in the span of about 20 seconds. A springboard into a tornado DDT drops Styles and Sabu puts on the camel clutch. Dreamer is covered in blood.

Fourtune starts getting back into it before Storm comes in to clean even more house. Beer Money does their SHOUT OUR NAMES bit as Fourtune is in full control. Raven comes in to even things up again as the extreme guys start getting back into it. Some pretty unspectacular brawling carries us to Morgan getting in as the final member of Fourtune. He drives Sabu into the cage and busts him open in the process. EV continues to get destroyed until Rhino ties things up. A series of clotheslines and suplexes set up a Gore to Storm as the roof of weapons is lowered.

The fans really wake up as the previous fifteen minutes or so were just killing time until we got to this point. EV takes over with the weapons shots as we see even more toys on the roof. Raven and Morgan slug it out until Kaz is thrown through the door and out onto the concrete. Stevie goes after Kaz and they head to the top of the cage. Richards sets up a ladder and a table up there as most of the other people have fought to the floor.

Kaz tries to put Richards through the table but Brian Kendrick pops out from under a tarp on top of the cage to make a save. He slams Kaz through the table and starts meditating because he’s a strange guy. Back in the ring, Dreamer nails AJ with a chair to crotch him on the top and a top rope Death Valley Driver onto the chair is enough to pin Styles.

Rating: D+. This was a pretty lame brawl as it followed the standard WarGames formula: they trade advantages and have a basic brawl until the next guy comes in. Ten people is WAY too much for one ring and that was the problem here. The fact that TOMMY DREAMER PINNED AJ STYLES doesn’t make things any better. Kendrick made things even more bizarre and the whole thing just didn’t do it for me.

Angle says he’ll retire if he doesn’t win and that he has to win the title. This one is for Hulk.

We get a music video on the main event, basically showing how everyone advanced through the tournament to get here and showing shots of them all.

The announcers preview the match for a good while.

TNA World Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson

Anderson beat D’Angelo Dinero and Hardy and Angle went to a time limit draw, forcing the three way. Hardy debuts new music which should tell you a lot. Anderson gets double teamed to start but Kurt is sent out to the floor. Angle comes back in and throws Jeff to the floor so he can kick at Anderson’s knee in the corner. A release overhead belly to belly gets two on Mr. with Hardy making a save. Jeff gets back into it and picks up Anderson, so Angle Germans both guys at the same time.

Anderson goes outside for the first time but Jeff backdrops Angle up and over the top for a bad landing. Thankfully he’s ok enough to pull Anderson out to the floor for a brawl, but Hardy dives over the top to put everyone down. Back in and Kurt puts Anderson in a chinlock until Jeff makes a save. He goes up top very slowly though, allowing Angle to run the corner for the belly to belly. Jeff pops back up, only to miss the Swanton on Anderson and give Kurt a near fall. Dixie Carter is watching at ringside.

Angle loads up a superplex but Andeson turns it into a Tower of Doom for two on both guys. It’s Angle up first to roll some Germans on Anderson before doing the same on Hardy. He wants to keep things together so there’s an ankle lock to both guys at the same time. Angle goes up top but Anderson’s ankle is fine enough for the rolling fireman’s carry for two. Hardy breaks it up with a Swanton for two on both guys.

Back up and Anderson goes up, only to get caught in a belly to back superplex to give Kurt a near fall. Whisper in the Wind puts Angle down and there’s a Twist of Fate to Anderson. The Swanton crushes Mr. but Angle grabs Jeff’s ankle. Anderson breaks it up with the Mic Check for two on Kurt and everyone gets two off a rollup. Kurt actually hits the moonsault for two on Hardy, who falls out of the ring. Angle escapes the Mic Check but accidentally clotheslines the referee. Everyone knows the big THEY reveal is coming.

Anderson hits the Mic Check on Angle but can’t follow up. This brings out Eric Bischoff with a chair but Hogan comes out (I’m as shocked as you are) before he can swing it. Hulk is on crutches and moving pretty slowly as we have to wait even longer. Bischoff throws the chair down but takes away a crutch. Hardy gets back in to calm things down but Hogan hands him his crutch.

Jeff squares off with Bischoff….and breaks the crutch over Angle’s back. Hogan smiles and Bischoff says that was awesome. Hogan points at Hardy and hugs Eric as they watch Hardy break the other crutch over Anderson’s back. The Twist of Fate is enough to pin Anderson and give Hardy the title.

Rating: B-. The match is good but this was ALL about the booking and big swerve at the end. Hogan and Bischoff weren’t really surprises so it was all down to who was going to side with the new mega heel faction. Hardy winning the title is fine and the best option given who was in there.

Bischoff introduces Jeff as the new World Champion and a smiling Jeff Jarrett comes out. Abyss follows them out and hugs Hogan. Fans throw trash in the ring ala the NWO debut (there were rumors this was planted) as RVD comes out to ask Jeff what he’s doing. Hardy lays him out with a belt shot and poses with THEY to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This is a VERY tricky show to grade as it all revolved around the huge reveal at the end. I remember waking up on the day of the show and being genuinely excited to find out who THEY were. That kind of excitement is reserved for Wrestlemania and nothing else in wrestling. TNA did an OUTSTANDING job of building up this story, even though when you look back at the last six months, there are roughly 84,038 plot holes in the story.

The problems with THEY (later called Immortal) all came later when, just like the NWO, the team expanded to about a dozen people and you couldn’t keep track of what was going on. The same was true of the buildup as it went in so many different directions that the whole thing stopped making sense about halfway through. It’s a good twist ending because Hardy was kind of the forgotten one in the whole mix, but the problem with these kind of stories is in the details. There is so much material in a wrestling show that somewhere along the lines, someone did something that doesn’t add up in the end.

That’s where this story lost me at first: I really don’t like the idea of having to keep track of dozens of plot points to figure out if a show makes sense or not. That’s why the show is still good but doesn’t have nearly the weight behind it that it did live. In 2010, all I cared about was the reveal. Now I know what’s coming (including that Sting and Nash had been right all along), so much of the drama is gone. It completely changes the show and thankfully lets you see that there’s more to it than just the main event. Good stuff here though and still TNA’s biggest show to date.

Ratings Comparison

Motor City Machine Guns vs. Generation Me

Original: B

Redo: A-

Angelina Love vs. Velvet Sky vs. Madison Rayne vs. Tara

Original: D+

Redo: D+

Ink Inc. vs. Shannon Moore/Jesse Neal

Original: D

Redo: D

Douglas Williams vs. Jay Lethal

Original: C+

Redo: C

Rob Van Dam vs. Abyss

Original: B-

Redo: B-

Sting/Kevin Nash/D’Angelo Dinero vs. Samoa Joe/Jeff Jarrett

Original: D+

Redo: D+

EV 2.0 vs. Fourtune

Original: D+

Redo: D+

Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Hardy

Original: B

Redo: B-

Overall Rating

Original: B-

Redo: C+

This is the point where I was watching the shows live so the ratings are going to be closer.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/10/10/bound-for-glory-2012-im-still-not-sure-if-this-makes-sense/

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:

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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 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/

Spring Stampede 1999
Date: April 11, 1999
Location: Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, Washington
Attendance: 17,690
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone

This is a show that hasn’t had the chance to build up that well as they made the two main events on Monday. The midcard stuff is decent enough but there’s some stuff in the main event that makes me shake my head. There are some matches on this show that pique my interest though which is more than I can say about most WCW shows. Let’s get to it.

We open with a generic video of the main event. That doesn’t really fire me up for the show.

The set has a simple entrance but the usual props on the side, such as wagons and hay. I miss that kind of themed stuff.

The announcers intro the show and don’t have much to say.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Blitzkrieg

The ring is now sponsored by Little Cesars. The winner gets a Cruiserweight Title shot tomorrow night. We actually get a handshake to start as the announcers continue their recent bickering over which pair is better. Juvy cranks on the arm before taking Blitzkrieg down into a sunset flip for two. They stay on the mat for a bit and Blitzkrieg complains of a mask pull. That goes nowhere so he grabs a headlock instead. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two on Juvy and Blitzkrieg follows up with a handspring elbow in the corner. The spots are actually hitting for a change.

Guerrera is able to send Blitzkrieg face first into the buckle ten straight times as we’re waiting on the dives to begin. Juvy goes first with a springboard missile dropkick and Blitzkrieg bails to the floor. He stands there way too long though, allowing Juvy to nail a huge dive over the top to take him down again. Back in and Juvy puts on a surfboard but Blitzkrieg rolls to the side to break it up.

A running dropkick in the corner sends Juvy outside but he walks away before Blitzkrieg can use the big dive. Instead Blitzkrieg goes around the ring and tries again, only to dive into a dropkick for a nice counter. Back in and Juvy tries a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker of his own but Blitzkrieg rolls out, sending Juvy back to the floor. Blitzkrieg hits a springboard spinning moonsault to take Guerrera down again.

Juvy tries the Juvy Driver but Blitzkrieg flips out and they trade reverse DDT attempts until Juvy takes him down for two. To continue the joke that is Schiavone’s commentary career, after the reverse DDT gets two, Tony says, and I quote, “frustration is setting in for Juvy. He hasn’t tried the Juvy Driver yet. If Blitzkrieg can counter that, frustration will really set in.” This is TEN SECONDS after Tony called Blitzkrieg countering the Juvy Driver. TEN SECONDS!

Anyway Juvy gets slammed off the top but avoids a Phoenix Splash. Juvy still can’t hit the Driver and Blitzkrieg tries something like a top rope victory roll for two. Blitzkrieg tries the same thing again but Juvy counters into a super Juvy Driver for the pin and the title shot. That was a great looking finish.

Rating: B. If this was the Blitzkrieg that I had seen in his WCW run, I would totally understand the love this guy gets. This was an excellent match with both guys nailing everything and having almost no down time in between. Granted I’d assume having Juventud Guerrera for an opponent instead of Super Calo helped him a lot. Great match.

Video on Hak vs. Bam Bam Bigelow. Let’s get this over with.

Hardcore Hak vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Bigelow brings out a cart full of weapons and drives it into Hak’s ribs to start as the announcers oggle Chastity. They’re already fighting by the set and Hak has a table hidden under the stagecoach. He goes up top on the stagecoach for a swanton through Bigelow through the table for a very good opening spot. Bigelow is up first and nails Hak in the head with part of the board and they head to the ring. Luckily for them, Chastity has a bunch of weapons waiting for them.

Bigelow nails Hak with a crutch followed by something made of metal. Hak bridges a table between the ring and the barricade but takes his sweet time, allowing Bigelow to nail him in the head with a trashcan. There’s a broom to the back but Bigelow can’t suplex him. Unfortunately Hak can’t suplex Bigelow either and his knee buckles. Thankfully he’s ok enough to bring in a ladder as the ring is way too full of weapons.

Something resembling a dropkick sends the ladder into Bigelow. Another swanton onto the ladder onto Bigelow has both guys in trouble as the announcers aren’t sure what to make of this stuff. Here’s yet another table and a piece of barricade to go with it as Bigelow is still down in the corner. There’s also some barbed wire wrapped around another corner. Chastity resets the table between the ring and barricade and Hak goes up, only so Bigelow can throw him throug the table. That was one of the most telegraphed spots I’ve ever seen.

Bigelow sets up a barricade in one corner and a ladder in the other. Hak is sent into the ladder but pops back up, only to crotch himself on the barricade. Bigelow is about to drop the barricade on Hak but has to spray Chastity with a fire extinguisher. The White Russian legsweep has almost no effect on Bigelow, likely because it’s a Russian legsweep. Bigelow takes him up for what was supposed to be a Greetings From Asbury Park (looked more like a Death Valley Driver) through the table for the pin. Isn’t that basically the same finisher from the opener?

Rating: C+. The match was more entertaining for the amount of stuff they used and only one really badly telegraphed spot, but I still don’t care to see any more of this. I really don’t need to see ECW in WCW but that’s what they’re obsessed with at this point. The announcers buried the whole thing and I can’t say I blame them. It was fairly entertaining though.

Scotty Riggs vs. Mikey Whipwreck

I have no idea why this match is happening and I’ll spare you the long list of people that should be on this show more than these two. Riggs is now a narcissist who carries a mirror. Slow start with Scotty offering an armdrag and stopping to talk to the camera. Mikey speeds things up a bit with left hands in the corner and a dropkick. They head outside with Riggs being sent into the barricade before going back inside so Mikey can headscissors him back to the floor.

Back in and Mikey gets knocked off the apron and into the barricade in a painful looking spot. Riggs nails a top rope ax handle but stops for some Rude hip swiveling. We hit the chinlock from Riggs as the fans want Goldberg. Mikey scores with a middle rope dropkick and a hurricanrana for two. They run the ropes and Scotty hits a running forearm for the pin.

Rating: D-. This could have been on any given Thunder and I have no idea why they decided to air it here. Yeah it’s filler but there weren’t two more interesting guys to put out there instead of these guys? Nothing match here and Riggs is still his boring self despite a new gimmick. One thing I’ll give this show so far: the first three matches have all been a different style so there’s a nice variety.

Quick video on Disco vs. Konnan. Disco mocked Konnan’s annoying music video and there’s a match as a result.

Disco Inferno vs. Konnan

Konnan calls him a strawberry (whatever that means) and gets stomped down for his efforts. The fans are all over Disco as he stomps Konnan down and starts to dance even more. Konnan comes back with a dropkick and a bunch of right hands of his own. A Sin Cara style armdrag out of the corner has Disco in trouble but he comes back with a running elbow to the face. We hit the chinlock on Konnan for a few moments, followed by a middle rope elbow for two. This has been one sided so far.

Back to the chinlock for a bit before Konnan hiptosses him down, only to miss a charge and fall out to the floor. Disco is sent into the post but kicks the rope as they come back in. For some reason this stuns Konnan and a shaky elbow gets two. We get another chinlock as the announcers are stunned at Disco’s offense. Disco goes up but misses an elbow drop, allowing Konnan to hit the 187 for two. A swinging neckbreaker gets two for Inferno but Konnan uses Disco’s own Last Dance for the pin.

Rating: C. Not a bad little match here but Konnan hit about three moves all match. Disco continues to be a guy that can work hard when given the chance and that’s what we got here. I like Konnan using a Stunner far more than the Tequila Sunrise which is just a fancy half crab. This was better than I was expecting.

Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Kidman

Mysterio is defending and they’re the Tag Team Champions. Rey grabs a test of strength grip and they flip around for a few two counts each. A headscissors puts Kidman down but Kidman comes back with one of his own in a nice sequence. Kidman backdrops the champion out to the floor and hits a bit dive to take him down again. There’s a legdrop on the floor for two back inside as the fans are oddly quiet for this one.

A chinlock doesn’t get Kidman anywhere so they head to the floor with Rey countering a moonsault and headscissoring Kidman into the barricade. Back inside and Rey hits the springboard seated senton (not a Thesz Press Tony!) followed by a Lionsault for two each. Kidman comes back with something like a standing Boss Man Slam for two. The BK Bomb gets the same and Rey is dropkicked to the floor.

There’s the Shooting Star off the apron but they head back inside where Rey dropkicks Kidman out of the air. The fans are still not all that interested. A top rope bulldog (the move that won Rey the title) wakes them up a bit and gets another near fall on Kidman. Rey charges into a powerslam and it’s back to the chinlock. Back up and Rey clotheslines him to the floor, setting up a big flip dive to take him down again.

They get back in and we hit another chinlock for a bit before Kidman’s powerbomb is countered into a hurricanrana for two. Now it’s Rey holding a chinlock as the fans are clearly bored. Kidman fights up again and hits a sitout Pedigree followed by a sunset bomb for two. Another top rope bulldog gets something resembling a reaction and a two count to go with it. Kidman comes back with Stratusfaction for two but Rey hits a standing moonsault for a two count so fast I thought we had a crooked referee. Kidman counters a powerbomb into a faceplant but Rey crotches him into a top rope hurricanrana to retain.

Rating: C+. This was good but the match had to follow their first match as well as tonight’s opener. They were trying to top what they did a few weeks back and the match collapsed under the weight. It also needed to be about five minutes shorter as the chinlocks really stopped things cold. The match was entertaining but I can see why the fans weren’t that impressed.

We look at Saturn reuniting with Raven and beating the Horsemen a few weeks back. Raven and Saturn then cost the Horsemen the Tag Team Titles, making this match non-title.

Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko vs. Raven/Saturn

Raven and Saturn bring a table with them. Benoit and Saturn get things going and they stall for over a minute. Saturn is sent out to the floor where he sends the Horsemen into each other to take over. It’s off to Raven for a clothesline for two followed by a suplex to set up a top rope splash from Saturn. Benoit sends Raven out to the floor for a double stomping from Malenko and Anderson.

Back in and a double spinebuster lets the Horsemen make a wish with Raven’s legs. Dean nails a dropkick and it’s back to Benoit who is immediately caught in a small package. Referee Charles Robinson is busy doing anything else to count the pin so Benoit is able to beat Raven down again for two. Raven finally gets a boot up in the corner and the hot tag brings in Saturn. The Horsemen’s house is cleaned and a Doomsday Device with Saturn hitting a cross body for two.

Benoit saves Dean from a Death Valley Driver and puts Saturn in the rolling Germans but Raven makes the save. Dean breaks up the Even Flow and puts Saturn in the Cloverleaf. Saturn makes a rope and plants Dean with the DVD, only to have Benoit break it up with a Swan Dive to give Dean two. AWESOME sequence. Dean suplexes Saturn again and the fans are all over him for showing the Horsemen sign. There’s a sleeper on Saturn but Raven makes a quick save.

Benoit sends Saturn into the corner but Dean has to break up a sunset flip. Back to Dean for a chinlock to slow things down until Saturn suplexes his way out. Raven gets the hot tag and cleans house, including clotheslining Dean to the floor. Someone throws a chair inside and there’s the drop toehold for Benoit. Meanwhile, Saturn misses a dive through the table to knock himself silly. Dean nails Raven in the face with the chair but Raven shrugs it off and plants Malenko with the Even Flow. Raven covers but Anderson puts the chair on Raven’s head for the Swan Dive from Benoit to knock Raven silly and give Malenko the pin.

Rating: B+. That might be a bit high but I was loving this one. This is exactly what a good tag match is supposed to be: two teams that work great together and some sequences that make you believe it’s over but you’re so happy that you get more. The ending sequence had the fans totally into it and the whole match was great. This was actually better than the opener.

We recap the US Title tournament that wraps up tonight.

US Title: Booker T. vs. Scott Steiner

This is a rematch from Uncensored where Booker beat Steiner for the TV Title. Steiner stalls by insulting fans at ringside before the match. After about three minutes of walking around and yelling, Scott is ready to go. Booker takes him to the mat with a nice amateur move but Steiner is far more talented on the mat. A dropkick and armdrag send Steiner to the floor but he comes back in with some hard elbows to the face in the corner.

Booker nails him with a hard forearm and a hook kick to the jaw before throwing Booker back to the floor. Steiner charges into a boot in the corner and Booker hammers away at the nutjob’s head. Steiner counters some more right hands in the corner by crotching Booker on the top and momentum quickly changes. Booker is sent ribs first into the barricade and Scott drops an elbow on the ribs back inside.

Now it’s Scott’s turn to hammer away in the corner and the fans chant steroids. A backbreaker gets two for Scott and the chants are getting on his nerves. Scott gets in the referee’s face before putting a bearhug on Mr. T. Booker starts powering out so Steiner suplexes him down. Back up and Booker scores with a DDT followed by some side kicks before Steiner pulls the referee in front of a Booker clothesline. The fans are all looking at the entrance for the run-in as Booker hits the ax kick for no count.

The referee is back up so Steiner nails him from behind. Booker’s 110th Street Slam looks to set up the missile dropkick but Scott crotches him to break it up. Scott’s top rope hurricanrana is only good for two so he pulls out a foreign object and knocks Booker out on a suplex attempt. Another referee helps out the original referee and Steiner wins the title.

Rating: C. This was better than I was expecting with Booker looking like a warrior out there. He’s so ready to move up the card and thankfully he’s still the TV Champion out of all this. Actually it’s better that he hasn’t moved up the card as WCW would manage to screw him up so badly it would ruin him.

Mysterio has a chat on WCW.com.

We recap Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash. Simple story: Goldberg is almost unbeatable but Nash is the only man to beat him. Nash challenged him on Nitro.

Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash

Luger and Liz are with Big Kev. Nash does his catchphrase after the bell for some reason. Goldberg takes him into the corner but gets kneed in the ribs for his efforts. There’s the boot choke and Liz gets on the apron so Kevin can kick him low. All Nash so far. The side slam gets two but Nash misses the big boot and Goldberg shoulders him down.

A single underhook suplex sends Nash flying before he misses another big boot. Goldberg nails a superkick but Nash leapfrogs over the referee (not a bad one either!) and the spear hits the referee. Luger nails Goldberg with his cast and Nash loads up the Jackknife. Goldberg uses a testicular claw (Tony: “JACK THIS!”) to escape before kicking Luger in the face. The spear and Jackhammer end Nash.

Rating: D+. Nothing special here but Goldberg is always a guaranteed way to wake up the crowd. The retribution angle works well here and the match was better because they kept things moving here instead of the slow main event style they worked at Starrcade. Having Goldberg beat both Nash and Luger was a nice touch and maybe his biggest win since losing the title.

A very quick video says who is in the main event and nothing more. There isn’t much of a story here anyway. Hogan won a match to earn a shot but Page and Sting just decided they were in the match as well.

WCW World Title: Sting vs. Ric Flair vs. Hollywood Hogan vs. Diamond Dallas Page

One fall to a finish. Flair is defending and Randy Savage is referee for no apparent reason. If nothing else we get to look at Gorgeous George. The four quickly pair off with Hogan and Flair falling out to the floor. Sting is already trying the Scorpion on Page as Hogan chops away on Ric. They fight up the aisle as Page gets two off a swinging neckbreaker to Sting. Sting comes back with a top rope clothesline followed by the Stinger Splash but Flair makes the save.

The pairs trade spots with Sting and Page fighting to the floor. Hogan backdrops Flair as Sting drives Page into the barricade. Hogan starts putting the weightlifting belt back on but has to no sell some Flair chops. He Hulks Up as Sting puts Page in the Scorpion in the ring. Hogan drops the leg on Flair, forcing Sting to let go of the hold to make a save. Flair hits Hogan in the knee and cannonballs down on it as the other two guys are back on the floor.

The Figure Four goes on Hogan and Sting splashes Page against the barricade. For some reason Sting doesn’t make a save so Hogan has to turn it over. Page finally comes in for the save before clotheslining Flair to the floor. We get the figure four around the post to Hogan and Hollywood taps but he’s in the ropes. Sting breaks up the hold and the trainer comes out to take Hogan out. Even Bischoff comes out to check on him. I’ve heard conflicting reports on whether the injury was legit or not but Hogan wouldn’t wrestle for three months.

So we’re down to a three way now with Page perfectly fine to let Sting and Flair beat each other up. He finally breaks it up and sends Flair to the floor before stomping on Sting. Savage hasn’t been a factor yet. Flair gets back in and walks into a discus lariat for two. Sting hits the splash in the corner on Page, followed by the running faceplant. Ric is sent to the floor again but comes back in to break up a cover after Page tombstones Sting.

Sting superplexes the champ down but knocks himself silly at the same time. We get the triple sleeper because someone has been watching ECW tapes. Sting breaks it up with a double jawbreaker but gets double teamed against the ropes. He just stares at both guys and takes them down with a clothesline. The fans get WAY into Sting all of a sudden…and then quiet right back down.

Sting puts Flair in the Scorpion but Page makes a quick save. Page tries a suplex on Sting but gets reversed into the Death Drop for a delayed two. Flair knees Sting low and puts on the Figure Four with Page down. Savage pulls them to the middle of the ring and drops the elbow (called the Sky Elbow by Tony) on Ric. Page pops up, stomps Sting and Diamond Cuts Flair for the pin and the title.

Rating: C-. The match was a mess with the injury and everything but Page winning the title kind of works for me. I’ve seen people call it one of the stupidest decisions WCW ever made, but it’s not like WCW was flying on high before they gave him the belt. The match really didn’t need Savage as he and Flair had about a thousand built in stories due to past issues. Hogan leaving was odd and there’s always a chance he was pulling something.

Overall Rating: B+. This was one of the best shows WCW has put on in years. Even the main event wasn’t bad! There are two really good matches on here which make the show more than worth checking out and the only bad match is about seven minutes long. Things are about to implode for WCW and this might have been the last really good, bordering on great, show that they had left.

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Uncensored 1999
Date: March 14, 1999
Location: Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky
Attendance: 15,930
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone

It’s SuperBrawl Part II with a lot of rematches from that horrible show. In this case the main event is Hogan vs. Flair for the title in a barbed wire cage match with an added stipulation that hasn’t been mentioned on TV yet. We’ve also got Nash vs. Mysterio to blow off the giant killer story, Benoit/Malenko vs. Windham/Hennig for the Tag Team Titles and Sonny Onoo/Ernest Miller vs. Jerry Flynn. That match is happening but Goldberg, Diamond Dallas Page and Bret Hart aren’t on the show. Let’s get to it.

We open with a video on the main event. At least it’s different than the “building the cage” video.

Tony finally tells us the stipulation in the cage match: first blood. Just in case a barbed wire cage wasn’t enough for you.

Call the Hotline!

Video on Mysterio vs. Nash.

Cruiseweight Title: Kidman vs. Mikey Whipwreck

This is Mikey’s debut and he’s challenging. Mikey grabs an early front chancery followed by a fast headscissors. Kidman comes right back with a dropkick to put Mikey outside, followed by a whip into the barricade. Back in and a high cross body gets two but Whipwreck sends him back out to the floor. A wheelbarrow slam sends Kidman face first onto the barricade and gets Mikey two back in the ring.

Off to an Indian Deathlock on the champion but Mikey rolls over onto his stomach and reaches back to grab Kidman’s chin at the same time. That goes nowhere and draws a lot of booing so Kidman comes back with a hard clothesline. He’s all fired up now and stomps on Mikey in the corner, only to have a Fameasser countered into a powerbomb for two. Back up and Mikey gets knocked to the floor again, setting up a huge dive from Kidman.

It’s Whipwreck up first and he nails a slingshot clothesline for two. He tries a slingshot suplex but Kidman counters into a snap suplex of his own. Cool move. Mikey sends him right back to the floor but misses a dive and hits the barricade. They whip each other into the barricade with the newcomer getting the better of it and taking Kidman back into the ring.

A gutbuster gets two for Mikey but he walks into the BK Bomb for another two. Mikey drops him with a neckbreaker and gets a nice near fall off a top rope clothesline. Kidman comes back with a sitout Pedigree but gets caught in a reverse inverted DDT. Like every other challenger though, Mikey tries a powerbomb and I think you know what’s coming. Kidman goes up and nails the Shooting Star to retain.

Rating: C+. This was a good match but needed to be about three minutes shorter. Even though the cruiserweight division was stacked at this point, I like the idea of bringing in Mikey. He wrestled a much more ground based style than most of the other people in the division so this was a little different. Also Kidman has beaten almost every cruiserweight in the division so he needed a new challenger.

Stevie Ray talks about not being yoked anymore.

Vince says the name is Vince.

Remember the video on the cage being built from the start of the show? Here’s another version of it. This one aired on Nitro to make us want to buy the show that we had to buy to see the video that should make us buy the show.

Vince vs. Stevie Ray

This is a Harlem Street Fight and the winner leads the Black and White. In other words, all the stuff with Norton, Adams and Horace was a waste of time and has been dropped. Vince’s graphic still says Vincent, even though the video before the match emphasized his new name. Whatever his name is, he stomps on Ray’s foot and pokes him in the eye to take over. Stevie lifts him in the air by the throat before they hit the floor.

Vince is whipped into the barricade and they fight into the crowd. Luckily there’s a tarped off section of folded down seats for them to fight in. Stevie can barely stand on the chairs as he beats up Vince. Tony actually covers the bunch of unsold seats by saying it’s a production area. Back in and Vince slams him down and gets two off a middle rope elbow. He goes up again but dives into Stevie’s boot.

Stevie sends him into the buckle before lunging forward for a horrible collision spot before Vince does a HORRIBLE fall into a low blow. Stevie doesn’t even react off the impact. Horace comes out and throws in a slapjack, saying he’s the leader no matter what. Vince gets it but drops it, allowing Stevie to hit the Slapjack (lifting Pedigree) for the pin.

Rating: D-. This stuff is entertaining when they keep it short but when it’s a seven minute match, it loses its charm in a hurry. Stevie winning is the right choice as he’s the best talker of the team, but he’s the better of multiple evils. At least they’re keeping the Black and White separate and making it clear they’re a lower level unit. The street fight aspect barely meant a thing given that low blows have pretty much been made legal in WCW.

Jericho says Saturn doesn’t deserve to be in the same ring with him.

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Kevin Nash

Rematch from Nitro a few weeks back where Rey beat Nash. A big boot to the face puts Rey down to start but he comes back with the sitout bulldog and a springboard Fameasser. Mysterio sends him to the floor with a spinwheel kick but makes the mistake of trying a baseball slide, allowing Nash to sidestep him and send Rey into the barricade.

Back in and Nash hits the framed elbow and boots Rey back to the floor. Nash lifts him into the air by the throat for an atomic drop but Rey kicks him low because what else was he supposed to do? There’s the Bronco Buster but Rey’s moonsault press is caught in midair. Rey escapes but Luger trips him up, allowing Nash to kick him in the face and Jackknife him back to the cruiserweight division. Appropriately enough, the match ran 6:19.

Rating: D+. So what did we learn here? Don’t mess with the main event talent, the last few weeks were a total fluke, and Rey Mysterio has no business in the main event scene. Also Konnan is a horrible friend because he wasn’t out there when Rey had to deal with Nash, Luger and Liz. I’m so glad Nash got to beat up Rey Mysterio though. It makes him look so much more awesome than he did before.

The three guys in the hardcore match talk about how tough they are. Again, we saw this earlier in the week on TV.

Jerry Flynn vs. Ernest Miller/Sonny Onoo

Let’s get this over with. Miller comes out to the Glacier lasers and the James Brown music while wearing a cowboy hat. Tony gets in his only good line of the night: “It’s the Cat in the Hat!” Flynn chops Miller down to start but goes after Sonny for cutting off his ponytail. Miller gets in a cheap shot as Schiavone talks about how Flynn could be a top five (he was OBSESSED with this top five thing around this time) star in the next year.

They head outside with Miller kicking Flynn down and Sonny gets in a few cheap shots. Back in and Miller hits some more kicks before tagging in Sonny to pick the bones. Flynn grabs at the foot so Onoo dives back to the corner. Back outside and Miller tries to use a chair but Mickie Jay pulls it out of his hands. Miller kicks Jerry some more but gets rolled up for two. Sonny finally comes in, gets kicked once and Jerry pins him.

Rating: F. Thankfully this was it for Flynn’s push as he went back to jobbing where he belonged soon after. This is another example of WCW having no idea what their fans wanted and thinking it was ok to throwing garbage out there with a WCW logo on it. Total waste of pay per view time.

In ANOTHER video from Thunder, the teams in the Tag Team Title match talk about being smart and tough.

Raven vs. Hak vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Hardcore match. Hak comes out with barbed wire wrapped around him to what sounds like Mongo’s old music. Hak gets double teamed to start but Raven turns on Bigelow a few seconds in. Raven’s sister Chastity brings in a dumpster full of weapons to get us to the real match. It’s Raven in control until Bigelow runs him over. He breaks an ironing board over Hak but Raven comes back with a mailbox.

Raven and Bigelow have a standoff with trashcans but Hak uses the ironing board to break it up. An ECW chant starts up and everyone is worn down less than five minutes into the match. Raven uses the ironing board again but gets whipped into some trashcans. Bigelow takes over but Raven hits him low with a rowing oar. There’s a lot of just ramming each other into various objects and WAY more standing around between spots.

We get one of the few wrestling moves of the mat as Hak hits a top rope hurricanrana to Raven. Hak brings in a very real looking table but Raven helps Bigelow powerbomb Hak onto the table, followed by a splash through it. Bigelow switches over to wrestling but Chasitity comes in to save Raven. She pulls out some electrical tape and Bigelow brings in two more tables. Bigelow is whipped mostly through one of the tables in the corner and the Even Flow lays out Hak.

Instead of covering though, Raven tapes Hak’s arms together and blasts him in the head with the chair, which is TOTALLY not ripping off Rock vs. Mankind from the Royal Rumble. Bigelow lays out Raven with Greetings From Asbury Park but Chastity sprays him with a fire extinguisher, knocking him off the top rope and through a table. Chastity then turns on Raven by spraying him in the eyes and hitting him low, giving Hak the pin.

Rating: D. To recap, the girl that we know almost nothing about turned on her brother to be with the guy that we know almost nothing about who may or may not be a former friend of her family (it’s not clear if those appearances were retconned or not) and Bam Bam Bigelow has gone from facing Goldberg on pay per view to this in three weeks. Even worse, this got FIFTEEN MINUTES.

The announcers talk for a bit as the ring is cleaned up.

Tag Team Titles: Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko vs. Curt Hennig/Barry Windham

It’s a lumberjack with straps match and Hennig/Windham are defending. The lumberjacks are a bunch of lower/midcard guys including Meng and Norman Smiley. Benoit and Hennig get things going and Arn Anderson comes out to replace Chris Adams as a lumberjack. The champions try to leave and get beaten up like the cowards they are. Back in and Benoit chops Hennig to the floor for another whipping before it’s off to Barry.

Chris is find with chopping Windham to the floor as well where the Texan gets whipped as well.

Off to Dean who hammers away with more aggression than you would expect from him. The Horsemen double team Barry down but Hennig gets in a cheap shot to take over. Benoit is thrown to the floor and gets whipped a few times before it’s back to a chinlock from Curt. The beating continues but Benoit finally snaps off a German suplex and makes the tag off to Dean. Everything breaks down and Malenko hits Hennig with a PerfectPlex for two but Barry breaks up the Texas Cloverleaf.

Windham tries to low bridge Dean to the floor but Malenko stops himself, only to have Hennig knock him out to the floor for a whipping. Now it’s Dean in trouble as Curt hooks a sleeper. Dean makes the ropes but is sent to the floor for more belt shots. Windham hammers away in the corner but Dean punches his way out of a belly to back suplex. The double tag brings in Hennig and Benoit as everything breaks down.

Benoit takes off Windham’s belt and throws him outside for a brawl. Hennig goes after Anderson, earning him a tire iron shot to the head. Malenko breaks up the superplex and Benoit hits the longest Swan Dive I’ve ever see (Hennig would have been in a good place for a 450) for the pin and the titles.

Rating: C+. The match wasn’t as good as their first one last month but it finally got the job done. Last month’s was brought WAY down by the booking but the wrestling itself was better. This one was more of a tag team formula and that’s a hard idea to screw up. I could have done without Arn’s interference but to be fair Hennig went after him first. That Swan Dive was very impressive and I can live with it only hitting Curt’s arm as he was already out.

Chris Jericho vs. Perry Saturn

This is the dog collar match and Saturn comes out wearing a dress made of chains, black lipstick, eye shadow and yellow contacts. Jericho offers to have Ralphus fight in his place but Ralphus says no, earning him a slap in the face. Back in and Jericho is very tentative to put on the collar so Saturn attacks him to get things going. He puts the collar on Chris and pulls Jericho back when he tries to run. Saturn goes to the apron and gets a running start to send Jericho face first into the buckle.

A springboard chain shot to the head puts the Canadian down and it’s time for some choking. They head outside and Saturn pulls him into the barricade a few times. Back in and a clothesline knocks Saturn over the top rope to the floor and now it’s Jericho choking a lot. They head inside again and Jericho tries a powerbomb, only to pull himself down at the same time. A small packge gets two for Saturn and he pulls Jericho off the middle rope in a smart counter. Then he makes it simple and throws Jericho around by the neck.

Jericho gets the Liontamer but Saturn wraps the chain around Jericho’s neck so the hold chokes Jericho, forcing him to break it. The Death Valley Driver onto the chain gets two and Jericho counters a hurricanrana with a powerbomb. Jericho unhooks Saturn and wraps the chain around himself before going up for a moonsault. Saturn moves and the impact drives the chain into Jericho’s chest but it doesn’t seem to bother him. A top rope splash completely misses Saturn and another Death Valley Driver gets the pin.

Rating: C-. This was ok but the ending felt like it was supposed to be two minutes earlier. I’m not sure why the Death Valley Driver on the chain didn’t get the pin but the regular version could. The match wasn’t bad and hopefully it ends this dress thing which isn’t getting Saturn anywhere.

Mikey Whipwreck gives an interview on WCW.com and praises Kidman. Nothing to see here.

TV Title: Booker T. vs. Scott Steiner

Steiner is defending because US Champion Scott Hall has disappeared, taking Booker’s title shot with him. Scott stalls a lot after the bell and we get our first lockup at two minutes into the match. A lockup goes nowhere and it’s back to the stalling. Steiner hammers Booker down but he comes back with right hands. The champion ducks a spin kick and bails out to the floor for a breather with Bagwell.

Back in and Scott charges into a boot and Booker hammers away again. An atomic drop staggers Scott again and a spinning cross body gets two as Buff pulls Booker out to the floor. Steiner throws Booker into the crowd for a bit before the villains take their turns choking. The spinning belly to belly suplex plants Booker and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Booker hits a running forearm before mostly missing a spinning kick to the face.

Booker tries a side kick but Steiner ducks. The side kick clears the referee and thankfully he doesn’t sell, but the look of fear on his face is great. Another side kick nails Steiner but Buff crotches Booker on the top. Steiner superplexes him down and Buff comes in with a chair, only to hit Scott by mistake. Booker kicks the chair into Bagwell’s face and pins Steiner for the title.

Rating: C-. Not great here but the title change is a good idea. I can’t stand the referee watching Bagwell use the chair as it should be a DQ even if it was an accident. This whole getting more extreme and lawless is very annoying as it comes off more and more like an ECW knockoff every night. At least Booker’s losses are forgiven here though.

Video on the cage being built. I have it memorized by this point.

WCW World Title: Hollywood Hogan vs. Ric Flair

Hogan is defending and if Flair loses, he’s out of WCW for life. If Flair wins, he’s champion and President of WCW permanently. This is also a barbed wire steel cage match with no doors on the cage. Before the cage is lowered, Flair tells the referee to not stop the match for a scratch or a trickle of blood. The referee is allowed to use his own discretion as to what first blood means. Flair is sounding very heelish here. I’m glad they threw in the significant blood clause. I’ve always thought a heel could just slip in a needle and poke the other guy for the win otherwise.

Hogan shoves him around to start and nails a right hand before running Flair over like it’s 1986. The fans have no idea how to react as Hogan does all his old spots, including dropping the rapid elbows. Flair takes a beating in the corner and Hogan no sells a single chop. A running clothesline puts Ric down and Hogan does the hand to the ear. It’s one sided so far and Hogan puts on a Figure Four.

That thankfully goes nowhere so Hogan rams him face first into the cage. Hogan bites at the cut and Flair is doing his crazy man stuff, including having his trunks pulled down. There’s a small cut above Flair’s eye and Hogan sends him face first into the buckle. Total dominance so far and the fans are chanting for Hogan. Flair’s hair is half red now and Hogan drives him into the cage. Some of the barbed wire has fallen off the top of the cage and is hanging down the side.

Hogan hits the big boot and legdrop for a cover but obviously the referee (Charles Robinson) won’t count. Flair nails Hogan with a foreign object and sends him into the cage, cutting the champion open. Cue David Flair and the Blonde (now called Sam) as Ric drops a knee on Hogan’s head. Ric spits at his son and says he’ll be a fourteen time champion. Now it’s a full Hogan chant as we have a double turn.

Ric drops an elbow for two (Tony is totally fine with a cover and count) and it’s time for the Hulk Up. The fans are into it because they haven’t see it in years but the legdrop only gets two. Tenay tries to keep up with the stipulations as Hogan no sells a suplex. Ric, the crazed father desperate for vengeance, drops to his knees and begs for mercy.

The referee gets bumped (like it matters) and David tells Hogan to Hulk Up. Arn Anderson comes out with a tire iron to David so Sam jumps on Arn’s back. Anderson throws her down and slips Ric the tire iron to knock Hogan out. There’s the Figure Four and Robinson counts the pin to give Ric the title again. The fans, trying to make sense of this whole thing, are almost silent for the announcement of a new champion.

Rating: D. I have no idea what I just watched. It was indeed a cage match, but the barbed wire meant nothing and David and Sam didn’t need to be there other than giving Anderson a reason to come down. The stipulations were a mess though and the fans seemed really confused by the blood and then the pinfalls. The rest of the match wasn’t bad though as Hogan vs. Flair using the old formula is entertaining enough.

However there’s also the booking, which is as stupid as it could have been. I can REALLY stretch and accept Ric being tormented so much that he snaps and starts abusing his authority to get the title and revenge. It’s not the best story in the world and it goes against everything that WCW had been doing for the last few months, but at least it can be done.

Then there’s Hogan turning face and it just does not work. Period. Hogan has caused all these problems for the last several years but now we’re supposed to cheer him because…..why are we supposed to cheer for him? Because he Hulked up and Flair abused his authority by stretching what a first blood match meant and used a tire iron? I’m supposed to feel bad for Hogan because he’s getting cheated in one match after cheating for two and a half years?

Basically WCW is saying two wrongs make a right and that really doesn’t work after watching Ric go through this much horrible stuff over the last few months. That really doesn’t hold up and the story doesn’t work with everything that lead us to this point. At least Flair FINALLY beat Hogan in a big match though.

David checks on Hogan and Tony praises Hollywood for his valiant effort.

Overall Rating: D. This should be subtitled “SuperBrawl Part 2: We’re Sorry.” The Tag Team Title match is a reversal of what we saw before, Booker getting the TV Title is a nice addition and Flair won….albeit in weird fashion. Unfortunately the damage was done three weeks ago and the last few weeks of television. The fans are already starting to leave and WCW is going to start to get desperate.

Now to its credit, this was WAY easier to sit through than SuperBrawl which was one of the most infuriating shows I’ve ever seen. This show had some watchable wrestling on it and nothing maddening, putting it miles ahead of last month’s offering. It’s not a masterpiece or anything, but it at least corrected some of SuperBrawl’s errors.

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Starrcade 1992
Date: December 28, 1992
Location: The Omni, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 8,000
Commentators: Jesse Ventura, Jim Ross

As mentioned, this is a fairly packed show. In addition to the world title matches, we also have the Unified World Tag Team Titles on the line. I mentioned the NWA tag title tournament earlier on. For some reason, the NWA and WCW agreed to share tag team champions, meaning that the champions are carrying around four total belts. I’m still not sure why that was the case but 1992 WCW rarely made a ton of sense. Let’s get to it.

We open with an announcement that changes the entire show: Rick Rude is injured and has not only been stripped of the US Title, but also is out of the world title match tonight. Dr. Death Steve Williams, also known as Bill Watts’ idol, will be replacing him in the world title match.

Bill Watts presents Sting with a ring for winning BattleBowl last year. Not much else to say here. Oh and baseball legend Hank Aaron is in the ring for the presentation because Turner Sports thought that wrestling fans wanted to see actual businessmen in wrestling rings.

Larry Zbyszko and Missy Hyatt are doing the drawings for the matches, but the first match was announced on the Clash of the Champions special.

All tag matches are part of Lethal Lottery unless otherwise noted.

Van Hammer/Dan Spivey vs. Johnny B. Badd/Cactus Jack

Spivey is a tall blonde haired guy who isn’t great in the ring. Cactus and Van Hammer had feuded a bit back in 1991 so they get things going. As to be expected with a nutjob like Jack, he pounds away while screaming a lot. Van Hammer comes back with a clothesline and takes over using a variety of forearms and right hands. A legdrop connects but it’s quickly off to Badd. Johnny makes up for the purple trunks with a SWEET hurricanrana to slam Van Hammer’s head down into the mat. Back to Cactus for a hiptoss for no cover.

Off to Spivey who uses his powers of lumbering around the ring to take over. After some right hands and a clothesline to Jack it’s back to Van Hammer again. He gets to fight Badd, and of course by that I mean chase him around while Spivey cheats from the apron. Dan tags himself in and throws on a bearhug before it’s back to Van Hammer for a slam.

A belly to back suples gets two and it’s back to the cheater. Badd staggers Spivey with a dropkick and tags Jack in again as things pick up. Cactus screams a lot and pounds away, only to be caught by a flying shoulder for two. Badd misses an elbow drop as he tries to save, triggering a brawl with Cactus. Since Badd is a Golden Gloves champion, he knocks Badd into a rollup from Hammer for the win.

Rating: D+. This was pretty lame stuff as Spivey and Van Hammer are both big guys who aren’t all that great in the ring. Cactus was clearly something special and why he was put down in exchange for Van Hammer and Spivey is beyond me. Jack would have his day soon though as he would feud with Vader for most of 1993.

Barbarian/Kensuke Sasaki vs. Dustin Rhodes/Vader

Sasaki is a strong Japanese guy and Barbarian is a brawling Tongan wrestler who you might remember from the mid-80s shows. Why he kept jobs for so long I’m not sure, but he was regularly employed by national companies for nearly fifteen years running. Vader and Barbarian get things going, and as expected neither guy seems all that interested in selling any offense. Both guys connect with things like slams and clotheslines but neither guy stays down or even staggers for more than a few seconds.

After a few minutes of that it’s off to Rhodes, who plays the Bret Hart to Vader’s Neidhart in a Hart Attack on Barbarian. Dustin and Barbarian trade suplexes and it’s off to Sasaki for the first time. They slug it out with Sasaki taking over, only to go to the middle rope and jump into a dropkick. Back to Vader to have his way with Sasaki as the beating begins.

Vader pounds Sasaki about the head and shoulders with some shots that are far harder than they need to be. A standing splash off the middle rope has Sasaki back down, but he actually pulls off a pair of suplexes on Vader. With both guys a bit tired they both tag out and everything breaks down. Sasaki and Barbarian are thrown into each other, allowing Dustin to roll up Barbarian for the pin.

Rating: D. This didn’t work for the most part, but it was certainly entertaining at times. That standing splash to Sasaki looked awesome and some of the stuff at the beginning was ok, but for the most part this was just mindless stuff with people pounding on each other. To be fair though, Vader has a bigger match later in the night and needed to keep this short.

Barry Windham/Great Muta vs. 2 Cold Scorpio/Brian Pillman

Scorpio is a high flier who brought several moves to mainstream wrestling which would become norms for wrestlers much smaller than him in future years. This should be very interesting as all four guys are very talented. Windham and Pillman are semi-regular tag partners and will be challenging for the tag titles later in the evening. Despite never being around, the fans LOVE Muta and go nuts for him as Windham starts with Scorpio.

They fight over arm control as Scorpio tries to spin out of Windham’s grip. Scorpio gets on his own hammerlock but the far bigger Barry charges into the corner for the hot tag off to Muta. The fans go even crazier for Muta as they fight over a waistlock with Scorpio doing the same thing Barry did, giving us Pillman vs. Muta in a semi-dream match. They trade dropkicks until Pillman headlocks Muta down for two. Back to Windham to face his regular partner and they chop it out before it’s right back to Muta.

Pillman counters a quick backdrop attempt into a faceplant for no cover. The former football player Pillman hits a shoulder block, only to be caught by a spinwheel kick by Muta. Pillman sends him face first into the buckle before it’s back to Scorpio for a clothesline, but Muta gets his knees up to block a splash. Windham comes back in and gets two off a legdrop and a suplex for the same. Muta comes right back in for some dropkicks and the power drive elbow for two. A hard kick sends Scorpio onto the ramp as everything breaks down. In the melee, Barry hits his lifting DDT on Scorpio to set up Muta’s moonsault for the pin.

Rating: C+. This is one of those matches which could have been great if they had 20 minutes instead of seven. Muta was still incredibly popular because of how crisp he was in the ring and Pillman was one of the few people in the world who could go move for move with him. Good stuff here and I can’t imagine the other tag matches topping this given the names left.

Sting/Steve Williams vs. Jushin Thunder Liger/Erik Watts

Erik is of course Bill’s son and has no place on a show of this magnitude whatsoever. Liger and Sting start which is probably the best choice for all involved. They collide in the center of the ring with no one moving off stereo shoulders. Sting cranks on Liger’s arm and brings in Doc (Williams) who misses a charge into the corner to allow the tag to the dead meat. I mean Watts. Watts hits a quick armdrag so Williams promptly knocks his head off with a right hand. Erik fights back with a cross body but gets chopped into the corner for the tag off to Liger.

Jushin fires off all his high flying stuff with dropkicks and clotheslines but it’s like trying to knock down a small building. A HARD clothesline puts Liger down and it’s back to Sting. Liger counters a backdrop into a quick sunset flip for two and it’s back to Doc for a hot shot onto the top rope. Sting comes back in but after hitting a clothesline, his splash only hits the mat.

Williams comes back in and Liger has to face him because he knows Watts can’t do anything against either opponent. Doc chokes him on the top rope and works on the arm a bit but Liger tries a quick sleeper of all things. Williams counters with a vicious belly to back suplex and brings in Sting for a suplex of his own. Liger finally manages a faceplant on Williams to buy himself some time….but he has to tag in Watts.

Erik comes in and is booed out of the building, which should tell you about all you need to know about him. Watts looks confused so he sends Doc into the ropes, giving us the only spot that Watts is remembered for. As Doc is coming towards him, Erik jumps straight into the air and kind of pushes his feet forward. It’s called a dropkick but looks more like he was landing in the sand on a long jump in a track meet. Thankfully Doc just stumbles a bit and doesn’t go down. Watts trips him up and tries his STF but is pulled to the outside. Back in and Doc catches a charging Erik in a Stun Gun for the pin to advance.

Rating: D+. At some point you have to feel sorry for Watts. The guy flat out did not have the skills to be in a spot like this and it likely wasn’t his idea to go out there. The dropkick is horrendous and proof that he needed time in a training ring instead of a regular one, but again it’s not his fault that he’s out there in a national promotion.

To recap, we have Van Hammer, Dan Spivey, Dustin Rhodes, Vader, Great Muta, Barry Windham, Sting and Jushin Thunder Liger in BattleBowl.

We get a preview of Chono vs. Muta from….Larry Zbyszko? That is one of the oddest choices they could have picked and it’s more bizarre than informative.

NWA World Title: Great Muta vs. Masahiro Chono

Chono is defending and they have the big gold belt back now. The champion pounds away to start and kicks Muta in the side of the head for good measure. They head to the mat with Chono taking over via a headscissors followed by an enziguri to send Chono to the floor. Back in and they fight over a top wristlock before Muta bails to the floor again. They go to a test of strength and take it to the mat where Muta grabs a full nelson which transitions into an abdominal stretch.

Now Chono counters into an abdominal stretch of his own. The fans are now starting to boo so Muta reverses into an armbar on the mat. Chono shifts into one of his own as Jim Ross tries to defend this boring match by calling it methodical. Now Muta takes over with a figure four headscissors. Back up and Chono throws him to the floor as this just keeps going.

Back in and Chono puts on an armbar, which is probably the worst thing that could happen here. Muta tries to flip out but the champion doesn’t let go of the hold. Chono goes up to but gets caught in a superplex to finally wake up the crowd a bit. Off to a half crab by the challenger (Jesse: “Looks like a Hiroshima crab.”) before he switches over to an Indian Deathlock with a bridge into a chinlock.

Muta finally lets go and gets caught in a suplex, only to have Muta kicks him out to the floor. How this has been going on for over ten minutes is beyond me. The handspring elbow crushes Chono into the corner so he goes up top for the moonsault, only to have to land on his feet and hurt his knee coming down. They both try dropkicks and crash to the mat to keep this very boring. Back up and Muta counters a belly to back suplex into a cross body for two and a nice reaction for the kickout. Muta misses a dropkick though, allowing Chono to put on his STF for the win.

Rating: F. This was absolutely horrible. They were clearly in a very slow motion the entire time and never got going whatsoever. The ending came out of nowhere with Chono just throwing on a hold on the knee which barely seemed hurt at all. The unofficial story is that Watts told them to keep it slow so as not to show up the WCW guys, which would explain a lot here. Muta won the title about a week later, so I have no idea why he lost here.

Jim Ross talks about a tournament for the vacant US Title but Rude interrupts and complains about having the title stripped from him. He swears to be back and to take the US and world titles.

WCW World Title: Ron Simmons vs. Steve Williams

Ron is defending and JR is already spouting off football stats as both of these guys were NCAA lineman. Jesse goes on a rant about how Rude has been ripped off before we get going. Doc requests and receives a handshake with a surprising lack of attacking after. Apparently Ron is wrestling with a shoulder injury. The champion grabs a headlock to slow Doc down for a bit before they both hit the ropes and collide. No one moves anywhere so they get in a three point stance, but Simmons proves that Florida State is smarter than Oklahoma by jumping over Doc and clotheslining him down.

Simmons puts on an armbar but Williams rolls to the floor. Back in and Williams pulls Simmons’ limited hair to escape. Ron is annoyed so he cranks on the arm even more. The champ pounds on the arm even more and gets annoyed when Doc shoves him. They slug it out with Simmons taking over and going back to the armbar. Now Simmons goes up top but Williams just steps to the side, sending Ron crashing down to the mat.

Williams goes after Simmons’ leg as this match continues to be in slow motion. Off to a half crab by Doc with almost no torque on it at all. A chop block puts Simmons down again and Williams fires off kicks to the back of the leg. Doc puts on a leg bar before getting up for another slugout. Simmons keeps trying to fight back but shots to the knee keep bringing him down. A clothesline gets two for Williams as this match keeps plodding along.

Back to another weak leglock as Doc kicks away at the leg. A slam puts Ron down again and there’s another chop block for good measure. It works so well that Doc hits another. He tries a third but Ron catches him with a kick coming in to take over. The spinebuster puts Williams down and Ron takes him down with some shots to Williams’ knee. They fight to the floor and slug it out again with both guys getting counted out for a very lame ending.

Rating: D. The problem here is there was no reason at all for these two to be fighting. Williams is there because Rude couldn’t go, but Rude had been built up as the real challenge for months on end. The leg work was decent enough but it didn’t go anywhere with the ending having nothing to do with the leg at all. Also I have no idea why Williams was put in here, as Vader would win the world title a mere 48 hours after this show.

Post match the decision is changed to Doc being disqualified for attacking Simmons, which changes absolutely nothing at all.

Tag Titles: Barry Windham/Brian Pillman vs. Shane Douglas/Ricky Steamboat

Windham used to be tag champions with Dustin Rhodes but lost the belts to Steamboat and Douglas a few months ago. Pillman turned heel due to frustration with only being Light Heavyweight Champion and hooked up with Windham soon thereafter. A few weeks ago Barry beat the tar out of both champions with a chair so Steamboat and Douglas want revenge. Douglas and Pillman start things off as Jesse’s mind is blown hearing about Shane holding a masters degree. A right hand puts Pillman down and more of them break up Pillman’s sunset flip attempt.

Brian, tired of losing the wrestling portion of the match, rakes Shane’s eyes to take over. Shane dropkicks him to the floor as Steamboat comes in for a double dropkick on Barry. Pillman bails to the floor as the champions double backdrop Windham. Barry gets the tag and wants Steamboat all to himself. A hard chop puts Barry down and a suplex does the same. Steamboat slows Barry down with a front facelock and a snapmare before bringing Shane back in.

Douglas puts Barry in a chinlock but Windham picks Shane up and suplexes out of it. Back to Steamboat for a neck snap on Barry and a right hand to Pillman. All champions so far. A clothesline puts Barry on the floor and Steamboat slams him on the wooden floor for good measure. Barry climbs up onto the ramp so Shane slams him down again just because he’s not a nice person. Ricky backdrops Barry into the ring and gets two off a neckbreaker. Back to Shane for another chinlock as Barry is trying to survive.

Windham FINALLY gets something going with a jawbreaker on Shane, allowing for the tag off to Brian. A facejam puts Shane down but a dropkick sends Pillman out to the floor and possibly into the barricade. Back in and Shane goes up top, but a distraction by Windham allows Brian to dropkick him off the top and out to the floor. Barry adds a big lariat for good measure before coming in legally and headbutting Shane down. A boot to Shane’s chest stops his comeback bid and Brian gets in some cheating for good measure.

Brian comes back in legally and chops Douglas down but Shane comes back with some right hands of his own. Pillman trips him up though and it’s right back to Windham, who stomps on Shane and throws him through the ropes and into the barricade to keep the champions in trouble. Steamboat goes to the floor to check on his partner but also blasts Windham in the back with a chair. It’s still not enough for the tag to Ricky though as Pillman suplexes Shane down.

Barry comes in off the top with a punch to Shane’s face and a suplex for two. Ross is losing his mind over the beating that Shane is taking. A splash gets two for Brian and Steamboat charges in, allowing the challengers to double team Shane in the corner. Barry tries another suplex, but this time Douglas counters into one of his own. Shane fires off one last right hand before falling backwards into the tag to Steamboat.

The Dragon (Steamboat) cleans house with slams for both guys but he walks into a powerslam from Barry to stop the comeback cold. A belly to back suplex puts Ricky down again and it’s off to Pillman, who illegally throws Steamboat over the top to the floor. The referee missed it though due to Shane, who also causes the referee to miss Windham throwing Steamboat into the post.

Back in and Steamboat chops it out with Pillman but gets caught in a headscissors for two. Windham comes in again with a top rope forearm to Ricky’s ribs, causing Ricky to….lecture him? Steamboat points his finger in Windham’s face and says something to him which confuses Barry. Windham goes up top but misses a right hand, allowing Steamboat to hit a superkick and a facejam to put both guys down. A double tag brings in Shane vs. Pillman with Douglas cleaning house. Everything breaks down and Steamboat cross bodies Windham onto the ramp. Shane hits his belly to belly suplex in Brian for the pin out of nowhere.

Rating: B+. Really awesome tag match here with all four guys working very hard to make everyone look good out there. Steamboat and Douglas would hold the belts until March, when Windham had to be replaced by Steve Austin due to an injury. Austin and Pillman proved to be a better team and took the belts, leading to a string of classic rematches. This was very good stuff though and match of the night by far to this point.

We recap Sting vs. Vader’s paths to the King of Cable Tournament final. That was always a really bad name for a tournament, because most people assumed it meant cable TV. In reality, the name was referring to the cables that made the ring ropes. Vader tried to hurt Sting when he found out they would be in the finals, so Sting broke a 2×4 over Vader’s back. These two have a LONG history together which would continue on for years after this.

In case you’re curious, here are the tournament brackets:

Rick Rude vs. Barry Windham
Sting vs. Brian Pillman
Vader vs. Tony Atlas
Dustin Rhodes vs. Barbarian

Rick Rude vs. Sting
Vader vs. Dustin Rhodes

King of Cable Finals: Sting vs. Vader

This is officially for a trophy but for these two it’s all about bragging rights and revenge. Sting has said that his battle plan coming in was to make Vader run out of gas. The problem with that is you have to survive Vader’s initial onslaught. Sting fires off some punches to start and Vader just shakes his head at him. Vader easily slams Sting down, much to his manager Harley Race’s approval. Sting gets up and walks int another slam, this time with just one arm.

That doesn’t work so Sting just charges at Vader, only to get his head knocked off by a clothesline. Sting is a lot of things, but intelligent never was one of them. Vader easily gorilla presses him up and drops Sting throat first on the top rope. Sting bails to the floor as he’s in BIG trouble early on. Back in and Vader pounds away, but Sting hits the ropes and then hits a running flipping body attack to take Vader down. A big boot puts Vader down again and Sting shows his own freakish strength by tossing Vader over his head in a German suplex.

A clothesline puts both guys on the floor and Vader is suddenly reeling. Sting gets back in and dives over the top onto Vader and Race to put both guys down again. The fans are losing their minds over this stuff. Vader is down on the floor as Sting calmly waits in the ring. Back in and Vader is all ticked off, so he pounds away on Sting with some HARD shots to the face and body. A splash misses in the corner though, allowing Sting to load up the Stinger Splash. Vader is ready though and gets his boot up, which collides with Sting’s face with a sick smacking sound.

Sting will have none of that though and kicks Vader in the face twice before DDTing Vader down. In an impressive strength display, Sting puts Vader on top and DDTs him off the top for two. There’s the Scorpion Deathlock but Vader quickly gets to the rope. Vader bails to the floor for a walk, so Sting follows with a Stinger Splash, only to hit the railing. For those of you keeping track of his career average on that move, Sting has probably tried it 1983 times and has hit maybe two of them. Like I said, he’s not that bright sometimes.

Back in and Vader is stalking Sting like a vulture, hitting a big splash in the corner to crush Sting. A clothesline gets two for Vader and he follows it up with some HARD right hands to the jaw. Vader drops Sting with a belly to back suplex and another splash which only gets two. The big man is getting very frustrated so he puts on a sloppy looking chinlock. He pulls back and DRILS Sting in the face with a crossface shot for two. Sting blocks a clothesline and gets a quick backslide for two but he can’t follow up.

Sting tries a sunset flip but has to roll away when Vader tries to drop down on his chest. Vader pops back up and starts blasting Sting in the face and ribs with JR wanting the match to be stopped. Sting counters a headlock with a belly to back suplex but he’s so spent that Vader covers him for two. Back up again and Vader just unloads on Sting in the corner, but most of the shots are hitting Sting’s forearms. Sting keeps his arms up for defense so Vader puts him on top for a superplex. Ever the hero, Sting pokes him in the eyes to drop Vader, but Sting is so spent that he just falls to the mat.

Vader puts him in the corner and goes off with even more rights and lefts, but Sting says bring it on. Vader’s shots are noticeably getting weaker and weaker and Sting is getting that adrenaline rush of his. A big right hand staggers Vader and three more drop the monster.

Sting lifts him up and drops Vader down with a Samoan drop, followed by a top rope splash for two. Now Sting isn’t sure what to do. He goes after Race on the apron, allowing Vader to get in a clothesline in the corner. Vader hits a chokeslam and goes up for a middle rope splash. He doesn’t cover though and goes up again, only to have Sting catch him in a powerslam and dive on top for the pin and the tournament.

Rating: A. This was an absolute war and it told a great story, as these two always did. It’s a great David vs. Goliath story….if David was 6’3 and had his face painted blue and white. Sting knew that he had to survive Vader long enough and challenge him to a fight, which he knew Vader would put everything he had into. The power displayed by Sting here was insane and words cannot accurately describe how hard Vader was hitting him. These two were seemingly incapable of having anything but a great match, so WCW just let them fight for about two and a half years straight. This is an excellent match and well worth seeing.

Sting is presented with his trophy.

NFL Hall of Famer Paul Hornung is here and talks about what winning the Super Bowl ring means. The idea is to compare it to the BattleBowl ring but it doesn’t quite work as well as they would like. Gee, it’s certainly a great idea to talk to a football player with a ring. It’s not like one of the most popular wrestlers in the world was presented with one earlier in the night or anything.

BattleBowl

Sting, Vader, Dustin Rhodes, Steve Williams, Van Hammer, Dan Spivey, Barry Windham, Great Muta

It’s an eight man battle royal for the ring. This is the third match of the night for five guys, giving Rhodes, Hammer and Spivey an advantage. Sting is also defending champion remember. He and Vader are exhausted as their match ended about five minutes earlier, so they fight on the ramp instead of getting in the ring. Sting finally gets inside but Vader dives over the top to get at Sting again.

Vader holds Sting so that Barry can pound away on him as everyone else just fights by the ropes. The match slows down a lot as there’s really no reason for most of these people to be fighting each other. Windham and Rhodes hate each other but that’s about it. Spivey and Windham try to put Sting out but Muta, Sting’s longtime rival, makes the save for no apparent reason. Now Vader saves Williams and starts choking Rhodes in the corner.

Everyone is exhausted so the action in the match pretty much stops. Rhodes dumps Windham to the ramp which doesn’t count apparently. Doc dumps out Van Hammer as Rhodes bulldogs Windham on the ramp. Now to add to the confusion, Sting drops Spivey onto the ramp and that counts as an elimination. Barry is back in now but he can barely stand up at this point. Vader hits a running clothesline on Sting, knocking both guys out to the ramp for a double elimination.

So we’re down to Muta, Rhodes, Windham and Doc, making for a rather dull ending to the match. Rhodes pounds on Barry due to old hatred while Doc beats on Muta due to a lack of anyone else to fight. Muta comes back with a pair of kicks on Williams as Barry is bleeding from the nose. Barry comes back with some shots to Dustin’s back as this is going VERY slowly. Windham goes up but gets taken down by Rhodes and DDT’d for good measure. Dustin and Doc go at it and put each other out maybe ten seconds later.

The fans are all behind Muta but Barry takes over and rams Muta into the corner. A quick suplex puts the Great one down and it’s time for Barry to throw him out. Muta hangs on so Barry suplexes him down again. Barry hits his superplex finisher and throws Muta out, but like any stupid heel he doesn’t pay enough attention, and Muta skins the cat to get back inside. A pair of dropkicks send Barry out and Muta wins BattleBowl.

Rating: D. Well that happened. Seriously what else do you want me to say here? It’s a battle royal for the sake of a ring with about three people the fans cared about in the slightest. Muta winning does very little for anyone as he had one more televised WCW match in the next year, which would be losing the NWA World Title to Windham in February. On top of that this was very boring as everyone had nothing left and spent most of the match laying on the ropes. Nothing to see here but the fans liked Muta winning at least.

Muta nearly jumps out of his skin when the fireworks go off.

Overall Rating: D+. This is a really hard one to grade. First of all, three of the first four tag matches are pretty much worthless. After that we have two lame world title matches to keep the show down even more. Then we have a very good tag match and an excellent Sting vs. Vader match followed by a lame battle royal. At the end of the day there’s more bad here than good, but the parts that are good are REALLY good.

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Starrcade 1998
Date: December 27, 1998
Location: MCI Center, Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 16,066
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan

It’s the biggest show of the year and I don’t know how many people know about it. I don’t remember the same show feeling so different just a year later. Last year Starrcade felt like an event rather than just a wrestling show. This year it feels like it could be a Clash of the Champions TV special instead of the biggest show of the year. I have a very bad feeling about what could be coming here, especially now that I have a fresh memory of how the buildup went. Let’s get to it.

 

The opening video is all about Goldberg vs. Nash, even though it’s arguably not even the main event.

Tony and company tell us that the Horsemen have been banned from the building tonight as per Eric Bischoff’s orders. They talk about the rest of the card for a bit to kill some time.

First up tonight: a commercial for a QVC special later in the week.

Call the Hotline!

Cruiserweight Title: Billy Kidman vs. Juventud Guerrera vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Kidman is defending and has been trying to defend the title against Mysterio for weeks, only to have the LWO interfere. Juventud is there as the former champion wanting a rematch and LWO leader Eddie Guerrero’s hand picked challenger. Rey stomps on his LWO shirt on the way to the ring. Juvy gets double teamed to start, much to the fans’ delight. He tries to fight back against Kidman but gets caught in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker from Mysterio. Kidman whips Rey into the Bronco Buster, even though Juvy was a foot in front of the buckle and had the back of his head driven hard into the corner.

The good guys start slugging it out before nailing Juvy at the same time, only to go at it again. Juvy misses a top rope cross body, allowing Kidman to slam Rey onto Juvy’s chest for two. Guerrera comes back with Mysterio’s sitout bulldog to both guys at the same time before telling the cameraman he’s got it. Mysterio can’t hook a German suplex on Juvy but Kidman clotheslines Guerrera down for two instead.

Kidman is sent to the floor and Juvy backdrops Rey on top of the champion, setting up a big dive to take out both guys. The fans didn’t seem interested for some reason. Back in and Juvy dives again, only to get double dropkicked out of the air. Heenan talks about Bill being here tonight. Tenay: “Clinton?” Heenan: “No Bill Schwartz, an old friend of mine from Cincinnati.” West Coast Pop gets two on Juvy but Kidman comes back with a headlock takeover out of the corner on Juvy with a dropkick to Rey at the same time.

Mysterio is still down as Kidman dives into Juvy’s boots to the face, allowing Rey to pop up and get two on the champion off a slingshot moonsault. Juvy is stood on the apron, allowing Rey to hit a hurricanrana off the top to put both guys down on the floor. Back in and Kidman gets two on Juvy with a layout powerbomb. Juvy hooks an over the shoulder backbreaker for the same on Mysterio before he seds Juvy and Kidman out to the floor. Rey hits a HUGE top rope Asai Moonsault to take both guys down but he can barely follow up.

Juvy gets taken down by a springboard hurricanrana from the masked man but walks into a bad looking Juvy Driver for two. Kidman makes a diving save before planing Juvy with the BK Bomb for two. Mysterio is the only one on his feet but he takes Juvy to the floor with another hurricanrana. Kidman has to keep up with the others, hitting a great looking Shooting Star to the floor, taking out both guys in the process. Eddie Guerrero comes out to the ring and pushes Juvy forward to counter a sunset flip. Rey comes in and dropkicks Juvy back into the sunset flip, giving Kidman the pin to retain the title.

Rating: B. Awesome opener here as all three guys were going nuts out there. That Shooting Star looked great and the other two were their usual awesome selves. Eddie getting involved makes me think a fourway would have been a better option, but there’s nothing wrong with three guys flying all over the place and firing up the crowd to open up a show.

Post match Eddie yells at Rey and Juvy, saying they’re not LWO material if they can’t beat a creampuff like Kidman. Eddie shoves Juvy down and keeps ripping into Kidman. The champion comes out and offers Eddie a title shot RIGHT NOW. Eddie says let him go get his gear on but Kidman doesn’t want to wait. The match is on, making me wonder what was going to get this spot originally.

Cruiserweight Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Billy Kidman

Eddie, in street clothes, decks Kidman to get things going and hammers away. A powerbomb gets two on the champion and we hit the abdominal stretch with Juvy helping from the floor. Mysterio breaks that up twice in a row, drawing Eddie to the floor for a jawing session with Rey. Kidman comes back with a slingshot ankle scissors for two before dropkicking Guerrero down.

Eddie nails a chopblock to take over again and puts on a modified leg lock while pulling on Kidman’s arm at the same time. Kidman makes a rope and Rey tries to give him a pep talk. It works well enough as Eddie is sent into the barricade to give the champion a breather. Back in and Kidman hits a quick bulldog before hammering away in the corner. Kidman is on instinct and fumes here, allowing Eddie to counter a weak sleeper with a jawbreaker.

The referee goes to talk to Rey for some reason, allowing Eddie to take off his boot and blast Kidman in the head for a delayed two. The brainbuster looks to set up the Frog Splash but Kidman pops back up with a superplex. Guerrero is up first and dropkicks the knee out again, setting up a leg lock which doesn’t put much torque on the knee. Mysterio and Juvy get in a fight on the floor over Eddie’s shoe and the distraction makes Billy break the hold.

Kidman fights out of a powerbomb and stomps Eddie as hard as he can. A slingshot legdrop gets two but Eddie counters a top rope hurricanrana. Now it’s Eddie putting Kidman on top, only to get shoved down. Eddie’s bodyguard distract the referee, allowing Juvy to crotch Kidman down. Rey does the same to Eddie though, setting up the Shooting Star to retain the title.

Rating: B. Another awesome match here with the story coming through much stronger than in the opening match. Kidman fighting out of desperation was an awesome story with Eddie not being able to back up his months of talk making it even better. All four guys looked good in their matches, but it’s eaten up a lot of time.

Nash vs. Goldberg video. This brings us to one of the biggest problems of the evening: time. We’re at forty minutes into the show, leaving us with about two hours to go and only three announced matches left. Keep that in mind as this show is about to start its downward spiral.

Norman Smiley vs. Prince Iaukea

Yes on Starrcade, in a rematch of something we just saw on Nitro twice this month already. Norman was getting a push around this time but that doesn’t mean you give him a match against the same guy he’s beaten twice in less than three weeks on PPV. Iaukea takes over to start and sends Norman to the floor for a dive off the apon. The announcers ignore most of the match to talk about Flair vs. Bischoff, making this match seem all the more pointless.

Back in and Norman takes control with his amateur stuff and works on something resembling a Kimura. Off to a short arm scissors as Tony talks about Flair’s promos (his word) and the recent heart attack. Smiley drops him ribs first over the top rope but stops for the Big Wiggle. There’s the swinging slam for two before he dances too long, allowing Prince to get a sunset flip for two.

The fans think this is boring so Norman double stomps Iaukea and puts on a seated abdominal stretch. That goes nowhere so Norman dances on the mat a bit. A delayed butterfly suplex gets two on Iaukea and it’s back to the arm. More dancing follows and Prince suplexes the distracted Smiley down for two. Norman puts on a series of freaky looking arm holds before hitting another double stomp.

Prince comes back with what might have been a low blow but Norman rakes the eyes. More dancing ensues and Prince springboards in with a cross body, only to have Smiley roll through for two. Neither guy can get a backslide so Norman slips behind him and puts on the chicken wing, now dubbed Norman’s Conquest, for the submission.

Rating: D-. Smiley was his usual fun self but this belongs on Thunder or Saturday Night. It got nearly TWELVE MINUTES, or more than Eddie’s match got. Norman is a rising star but what good does it do him to have a boring match that he’s won twice already this month? Somehow, this isn’t the oddest choice of a match so far.

Here’s Hall with something to say. I’ve heard he was scheduled to face Bigelow on this show. That makes sense given what happened recently on Nitro, but I never heard it announced on television. Unless it was announced on Saturday Night, that might have been a rumor or dirtsheet announcement. Either way, Hall comes out with an Outsiders shirt on and the fans seem very pleased with the idea.

Scott talks about how 1998 has been a bad year for him in and out of the ring. Tonight his old buddy Kevin Nash has a shot at the biggest title in wrestling. The two of them used to ride the roads together and talk about what that would mean. A little while back, Nash told him to prove himself to Big Kev. Hall doesn’t think he should have to do that, but he does have to prove something to himself. 1999 is going to be his year.

Video on Bam Bam Bigelow, who isn’t wrestling tonight either. This transitions into a video on the threeway betweeo Bigelow, Nash and Goldberg. We’re over an hour into this show now and this is the third video on the main event.

Perry Saturn vs. The Cat

This one isn’t so much strange as they’ve been feuding for awhile now, but who in the world wants to see this match? Miller of course has to give his usual speech and Saturn of course jumps him. Cat runs to the floor for some stalling before teasint walking to the back. He tries to slide back in to go after Saturn but falls at Saturn’s feet instead. Now the beating is on but Miller bails to the floor to stall again. Back in and Cat sweeps the leg and chokes a bit as the fans are dying in a hurry.

Saturn can’t hook the Rings so he wrestles Miller down to the mat. That also goes nowhere so Miller kicks him in the face and walks around a lot. Saturn comes back with a pair of suplexes for two and a swinging neckbreaker for the same. A top rope ax handle misses and Saturn gets kicked in the face for no cover. Back up and Miller kicks him again but asks Sonny Onoo to come in. Sonny kicks Miller by mistake, allowing Saturn to hit the Death Valley Driver for the pin.

Rating: D-. I’ve watched a lot of wrestling in my day but I will never understand some things about WCW. For one, why in the world did Sonny Onoo keep a job for so long? Miller could at least talk and got decent later on, but why is he getting this spot on this show? At least Saturn won, finally.

Gene brings out Flair to talk because we haven’t wasted enough time yet. Flair says he’s going to beat up Bischoff and lists off what he’s going to do to every body part.

This sets up a LONG video on Bischoff’s history in WCW since the NWO arrived, his abuses of power and his feud with Flair. Again, we’ve already paid for the show so why do we need to get fired up for the matches? This eats up over three minutes and I believe is the exact same video we saw on Nitro.

Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell come in and threaten Konnan but Lex Luger makes the save. Luger vs. Steiner was another rumored match for this show like Hall vs. Bigelow.

And now, perhaps the most random wrestling match in the history of pay per view.

Brian Adams/Scott Norton vs. Jerry Flynn/Fit Finlay

During the video, Tony has been given word that the main event will be No DQ. Adams throws Finlay around to start but Fit nails him in the ribs. Off to Norton who snaps off a powerslam on Finlay and a double clothesline to both opponents. Flynn kicks him in the chin and it’s back to Adams to slow things down. Adams kicks him down and stomps away but gets kicked right back, allowing Finlay to come back in and hammer on Brian.

Adams pops back up with a piledriver as the fans are just SILENT. Norton comes back in and cranks on the neck before hitting a splash in the corner. The NWO takes turns on Finlay with the only interesting move being a gorilla press gutbuster from Adams. Fit makes the ice cold tag to Flynn and everything breaks down. Flynn is distracted by Vincent, allowing Norton to powerbomb him in half for the pin.

Rating: S. For Starrcade, not Saturday Night. Get your shows right for your nine minute squashes.

Here’s Bischoff for ANOTHER FREAKING INTERVIEW. Eric says hi to the Clintons and imitates a Bill Clinton speech by saying how profoundly sorry he is for the pain he’s caused the Flair family. He feels sorry for Flair’s heart attack but the reality is Ric has to fight tonight because he can’t save a dime. Flair paid for all those jets and limos but Bischoff got his boss to pay for his limos and jets.

TV Title: Konnan vs. Chris Jericho

Konnan took the title from Jericho in November but Jericho stole the belt itself on Monday. Jericho gets in a few decent jokes about Konnan not keeping his pants up. He also calls himself the man’s regret, every woman’s pet, the man with the voice and the Jericholics’ choice. We’re treated to part of Konnan’s rap video before we’re ready to go.

Feeling out process to start with a shoulder putting the champion down. Konnan comes right back with a seated dropkick but walks into a regular dropkick from Jericho. Chris goes up top but Konnan grabs his own crotch for a distraction. They head outside with Jericho sending Konnan into the barricade to take over. Back in and Chris poses a lot before getting two off a suplex and the Arrogant Cover.

We hit the chinlock on the champion for a bit before Jericho goes up top and dives into the boot. The rolling lariat and a jackknife cover get two on Jericho before Konnan throws him out to the floor. Jericho is sent ribs first into the steps for two but Jericho counters the X Factor into a Liontamer attempt. The referee gets bumped and Jericho hits Konnan with the belt for two. That goes nowhere so Konnan hooks the Tequila Sunrise for the submission to retain.

Rating: D. This felt like they were painting by numbers, going through the motions or whatever other term you prefer for a match that was as basic as you could ask for. Konnan was all talk at this point and the matches just weren’t backing it up at all. Jericho knew he was leaving in 1999 at this point and really didn’t care at all.

Giant is ready for Page tonight and threatens Lee Marshall with violence.

Ric Flair vs. Eric Bischoff

Bischoff immediately heads to the floor but Flair gets his hands on him against the barricade. The beating is on quickly and they head inside for some choking in the corner. There’s the knee drop to the head and a right hand, which Flair says is for his wife. Ric goes after the knee in the corner but Bischoff gets in a kick to the head that knocks Flair all the way to the floor. He sends Flair into the barricade as Tony gets in the semi-infamous line about how anyone that follows tournament karate knows that Bischoff is a force in that sport.

Flair is busted open as Eric hammers away in the corner. Ric Hulks Up but another kick to the head puts him right back down. It’s nothing that a low blow won’t stop though as Flair takes over. Two more low blows put Eric in the corner and Ric chops away before shoving the referee down. Shattered Dreams has Bischoff screaming and a pair of suplexes make it even worse. The Figure Four goes on but here’s Curt Hennig to nail Flair with an object, giving Bischoff the pin, thereby killing the audience deader than dead. I mean they go SILENT.

Rating: F. For failure. That’s what this match was: a complete failure. This match went against the basic idea of wrestling: the villain runs his mouth and then gets beaten down by the hero at the end of the day. How does this help anyone other than Eric Bischoff? It ticks the fans off, doesn’t make the villain look right, and makes Flair look stupid. That’s fine once in awhile, but it’s the problem for WCW: the hero almost never got his day. It was always a screwjob of some form and the hero was supposed to fight another day. Eventually the fans got tired of waiting though and these moments stopped meaning anything.

As for the match itself, there’s really no logic to it either. Bischoff had WAY too much offense here as a single kick was enough to knock Flair all the way out to the floor. Last year Larry Zbyszko was staggered by some of his kicks but didn’t go out to the floor as a result. The heart attack angle was mentioned in passing by Tony and nothing more, making that almost entirely pointless. But hey, people think Eric Bischoff is a tough guy so everybody is happy right?

We recap Giant vs. Diamond Dallas Page, which is really just an offshoot of Page vs. Hart. Page of course has bad ribs coming in, due to a chokeslam off the stage a few weeks back.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Giant

They spit at each other to start before Page drives in some shoulders. An early Diamond Cutter attempt goes nowhere but Page does clothesline him out to the floor. The offense is short lived though as Giant clotheslines DDP down with ease. A headbutt puts Page into the crowd but he finds a trashcan to blast Giant in the head. Again the advantage is short lived though as Giant whips him into the steps and then the post.

Giant throws him back inside and Page bangs his knee up on the landing. The big man lays on the leg to slow things down as the fans just do not care after the result of the previous match. Page rakes the eyes to escape but gets crushed in the corner to stop his comeback cold. We hit the bearhug as this match is dying right in front of my eyes. Giant plants him with a powerslam but pulls Page up twice in a row. Back to the bearhug for a bit before Giant picks him up for a double choke backbreaker.

Giant still won’t cover though and gets caught in a running DDT to put both guys down. The referee gets bumped as well, drawing out Bret Hart who hits Giant with a chair by mistake. That’s only good for two as Giant easily kicks out. Page scores with a pair of top rope clotheslines, only to dive into a choke. Giant takes him to the corner for the super chokeslam, but Page dives at him into a swinging Diamond Cutter for the pin out of nowhere. Page’s shocked look when he hit it is great.

Rating: C-. The match was boring but the ending helped it a lot. That jumping Diamond Cutter is one of my favorite endings ever in WCW and it still holds up really well. I’m not sure why this wasn’t Page vs. Bret for the title, but to be fair we had seen that match several times before so it was kind of nice to see something new.

Yet another Goldberg vs. Nash video.

WCW World Title: Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash

Goldberg is defending and it’s No DQ. Nash won the shot by winning World War 3. They’re treating this like it’s a big showdown ala Hogan vs. Warrior in 1990 but it just doesn’t work with these guys. They pose at each other to start with the fans pretty split. A lockup takes both guys into the corner and the referee splits them up. They circle each other some more until Goldberg ducks a right hand and suplexes Nash, sending him out to the floor.

Back in and Nash takes him into the corner for all of his usual stuff but Goldberg just shoves him down. The champion chokes away but Nash tries a freaking cross armbreaker of all things. Goldberg laughs his way out of that and tries his ankle hold, sending Nash to the ropes for another reset. Goldberg knocks Nash to the mat with right hands but gets pulled face first into the middle buckle.

The spear connects out of nowhere but Goldberg can’t pick him up for the Jackhammer. The delay allows Nash to hit him low and both guys are down again. A bad looking side slam gets two for Nash and he hammers in forearms to the back. The swinging neckbreaker puts Nash down again and there’s the superkick for good measure. Goldberg muscles him up into a powerslam for two but here’s Disco Inferno to distract the champion. That goes as well as you would expect so here’s Bigelow to get beaten down as well. Scott Hall of course sneaks in with a tazer to Goldberg’s chest, setting up the Jackknife to give Nash the title.

Rating: D+. The match wasn’t the worst thing in the world but it feels like such an anti-climactic way to end the Streak. After all that, it’s an ending that doesn’t make a ton of sense and almost makes Nash look like a heel, even though the fans popped for the ending. I’d assume it’s because it’s a big moment but they still liked Nash no matter what. It felt like a pro-Nash pop rather than an anti-Goldberg one as the fans weren’t booing Goldberg throughout the rest of the match.

Nash isn’t sure what happened. He didn’t see Hall do what he did and Hall was out of there immediately after.

Overall Rating: D-. Where do I even start? While last year’s show was decent with a bad ending, this one was just bad for the last two hours. This show ranged from bad to downright stupid at times, with some of the most random matches I can ever remember seeing on a major pay per view. Consider the following list of people who either didn’t wrestle or appear on the show.

Bret Hart, Scott Steiner, Booker T., Scott Hall, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Lex Luger, Wrath, Bam Bam Bigelow, Kanyon, Raven, Buff Bagwell

All of those guys have gotten significant television time in the weeks leading up to the show, but none of them could get on the card. Instead we had guys like Jerry Flynn, Scott Norton and Prince Iaukea wrestling instead. The opening two matches are good, but there’s really no reason for one midcard story to eat up forty minutes of an under three hour card. That leaves you two hours for six matches, but then they wasted even more time on the constant videos and interviews.

That’s all before the booking of the show. I can understand the Nash move as the streak had to end somewhere. I don’t care for it for the most part, but there could have been far worse ideas for them to go with. Nash winning the title isn’t a stretch as he’s been one of the biggest starts in the company since the day he debuted. Yeah he booked himself to be champion, but at the end of the day it’s not like Glacier just broke Goldberg’s streak.

Then there’s the white elephant in the room. I really don’t know how you can argue that Bischoff should have gone over Flair no matter how you look at it. That should have been the biggest layup of the year but instead it’s the exact opposite of what it should have been. Yeah things would change in the near future, but the idea of getting the win later doesn’t matter. It should have been at Starrcade with the two having been built up for months. Instead it made Bischoff look good with Flair coming off like a raging lunatic that can’t get the easiest win in the world anymore.

Overall the show was only a step above a disaster. The worst part is that it wasn’t even all that bad, but it was painfully dull. Most of these matches just don’t line up with the stories they’ve been showing on television and it feels like we’re supposed to get to the big show later on. It’s not even that the show is bad, but it just doesn’t work at all, save for two pretty meaningless matches to open the show.

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