First thing I want to get off my chest: Bound for Glory might have had an obviously lower budget, but it was still leagues better than Wrestlemania 27.
Now that I said that, I also want to say that I didn’t find Bound for Glory as good as it could have been…
The Disappointments
The Knockouts Title match was very disappointing. Once Karen got involved with it, the match played more like a high school drama culmination rather than a decent Knockout’s match. I am totally happy for Velvet Sky and her win at Bound for Glory to finally claim the Knockout’s Title, but in the end, I feel her win was cheapened with this match. Sky might not have the best in ring work, but she’s still solid and viable enough to win without a match like that.
I feel blue-balled when it comes to Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles. It took a while, but that match was heating up. You could argue that maybe Christoper Daniels was talking a bit too much, but I only felt that way after the match ended the way it did. You see, I thought that Daniels’ talking was actually going to turn that match into something dangerously exciting. It felt like it was going to get real bad (in a good way). And just as it was about to get bad, the match ended with Daniels quitting without much damage inflicted upon himself, only to attack Styles after the match. I didn’t know this was supposed to continue, but… whatever.
And then there was Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode. Now this was a good match. The ending… not so much. It’s not even that Bobby Roode lost where almost everyone (including me) thinks he should have won. It’s how he lost… Roode’s arm under the rope, Angle’s hand getting leverage by holding the rope… excuse me? Angle didn’t need to cheat to win that match, and him cheating didn’t even effect Roode, as he wasn’t struggling to break the pin, he simply laid his arm down under the rope and the ref didn’t see it. That was not a good ending, especially considering the aftermath. Don’t worry, we’ll get to the aftermath.
The Match of the Night
It’s funny, because everyone wanted Roode vs. Angle to be the main event of Bound for Glory, but in retrospect, I think that Hogan vs. Sting should have been the main event. Why? Simple… Hogan and Sting (and company) delivered. The match itself wasn’t even bad simply because they stayed within the realm of what they could do, and they didn’t take five minute long breaks between spots like a certain match in Wrestlemania 27 featuring certain veterans did. This was a classic case of “less is more,” and that’s something that wrestlers of all types could learn from. It’s not necessarily what you do in a wrestling match that makes it a good match, but rather how you do it and how you deliver the story to the fans. Now, I admit that this could be nostalgia talking… but I doubt it.
Additionally, I’m a little surprised that the reason why Hogan “suddenly” turned face seemed to fly over everyone’s head at first. It was obviously explained in the following talk show of Impact Wrestling, but it was clear to me that when Hogan saw Sting getting beat up by Immortal and saw Sting cry for help and the fans were cheering him on, the “real” Hulk Hogan that taught us to fight for the rights of every man came out to save the day. I thought it worked very well.
The Aftermath: The 10/20 Episode of Impact
The episode that followed up Bound for Glory was horrible. Personally I feel like nothing was done, and hardly anything that wasn’t Hogan-Sting or Roode-Angle related was brought up from Bound for Glory.
Seriously, there was too much seemingly pointless talking. I feel like hardly any new feuds were brought to the table, even though they attempted build up at a number of things. I feel like the overuse of security is getting ridiculous. I feel like all this heartfelt-ness about Hogan doing the right thing and Immortal on their dying legs rocketed over the line of extra after a while. And having Roode get mad at Angle for “screwing” him although he apparently didn’t even need to reach over to grab the rope because the ref didn’t even see Roode’s arm under the rope was pointless.
I do like that Gail Kim is back. Not much to say about it, it makes a solid women’s division even better
I don’t like that James Storm won the title. To me, this is even cheaper than Velvet winning the title at Bound for Glory in the match that she won it in. It’s like, “Hey guys, let’s do alllll this build up for Robert Roode, right? And then, in the final hour, give his tag team partner the title! In a match that’s about the same length as Intoxicated Hardy vs. Sting! That will totally work, don’t you think?”
I just don’t understand… but from I read, that was a call made by Hogan himself. Either Hogan’s a baffling idiot or a wrestling genius… only time will tell.
Edit: Congrats to TNA pulling over 2 million viewers. I just wish they gave those 2 million viewers a much better show…
I didn’t think the show was horrible. I did however think there was a lot of talking. Which is understandable coming off a PPV. I liked that Storm won, just so the title was off Kurt. But Bobby Roode does deserve another chance at the title. Roode vs Storm I think would be a big PPV main event.
I guess we’ll see how it all works out.
Another great column, Mark. Thanks for your continued excellence in your contributions to TNAStars.com!
With respect to the Sting vs. Hulk Hogan match as the main event of the evening, I have to (somewhat) reluctantly agree. However, I only think that this match should have been the main event in hindsight. In other words, I think the ending of the Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode match was so poorly booked and so poorly executed (did anyone notice that Brian Hebner’s three count hand slam actually bounced off of Angle?) and the Sting vs. Hogan match was so filled with excitement and electricity from the crowd that it should have been the one to close the show.
But hey, that’s why they say hindsight is 20/20, right? Great column – thanks again!
@Jacob: Roode vs. Storm does look like the logical plan. As for the episode itself, I feel like the talking was useless. There were a few episodes of Impact where apparently there was 40 minutes in between matches and I honestly didn’t know because the promos and/or brawls were very entertaining. I didn’t feel the recent episode did that.
@Joe: Thank you sir. And yeah, definitely and only in hindsight. Because if Hogan and Flair were to have a big, hyped up match in a PPV, I definitely wouldn’t line them up as the main event. The end of the Roode vs. Angle match was bad and left a bit more to be desired.