TNA Bound for Glory Review - October 12, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Pre-Show: TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champions The IInspiration def. The Elegance Brand (Heather and M by Elegance)

A majority of the pre-show was dedicated to the TNA Hall of Fame inductions of The Beautiful People and Mickie James, so it would've made more sense to ditch doing a match all together so these four weren't shortchanged for time. Then again, for their sake, I guess getting only five minutes was better than not being on the card at all. It was a very basic bout. The IInspiration retaining the titles was interesting considering their contracts with the company are reportedly up soon.

Steve Maclin def. Frankie Kazarian to Win the TNA International Championship

I wish Kazarian got a longer run as champion seeing as how he just won the title two weeks ago at Victory Road. That said, getting the belt back on Maclin for Bound for Glory was the right move and it was a nice way to kick off the main card. They had the well-worked match you'd expect from the two of them. It's hard to believe Maclin was TNA World Champion at one point, but this certainly isn't a bad spot for him to be in.

Tessa Blanchard def. Gia Miller

For those unaware, Miller has been wrestling on the independent scene for years but has only ever served as a backstage correspondent for TNA. She didn't act as if she didn't know how to wrestle from a storyline standpoint, either. In fact, she walked out with confidence and ended up having an impressive outing. Unfortunately, the crowd sat on their hands for this and the finish felt abrupt. I'm sure the feud isn't over and we'll get Miller and Jody Threat vs. Blanchard and Victoria Crawford soon.

Nic Nemeth and Frankie Kazarian Won the 20-Person Call Your Shot Gauntlet Battle Royal

Yes, you read that correctly. Nemeth and Kazarian both won the damn trophy because they pinned each other at the same time and Santino Marella (who was also an entrant) didn't bother to restart the match. What a terrible finish, and the crowd let them know it. Otherwise, this was your standard Battle Royal. It didn't have any major surprises like previous installments, though there were some fun spots throughout.

TNA Knockouts World Champion Kelani Jordan def. Indi Hartwell

I felt bad for these two because this match had zero heat whatsoever. Hartwell has been built up really well since signing with TNA earlier this year, but this match came out of nowhere because of Ash by Elegance having to relinquish the title and Jordan winning it only two weeks ago at Victory Road. The babyface vs. babyface dynamic did not help at all, and it was an average outing at best. Hartwell losing was disappointing, but perhaps they want to keep her in chase mode for a little longer.

The System (Eddie Edwards, Brian Myers, JDC, Moose and Alisha Edwards) def. Order 4 (Mustafa Ali, The Great Hands, Agent Zero and Tasha Steelz) in Hardcore War

This had to be the most "hardcore" Hardcore War match I've seen in TNA. Props to them for living up to the stipulation and delivering the plunder that the fans in attendance were probably hoping for, but it didn't do much for me, personally. There were several stupid spots I can't say I was into, but to their credit, it did stand out from everything else on the show, and Ali eating the pin gave the feud finality.

TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater vs. Je'Von Evans Ended in a No Contest

What's worse than doing one ridiculously dumb finish on a pay-per-view? Two! Having them wrestle to a time-limit draw only to give them five more minutes and then have DarkState crash the contest was abysmal booking. I may not have had as much of an issue with it almost any other time, but Bound for Glory is supposed to be TNA's biggest pay-per-view of the year. That was complete garbage. It's a shame because the match was a banger prior to that point and easily the best of the night. A rematch needs to happen immediately.

TNA World Tag Team Champions and NXT Tag Team Champions The Hardys def. Team 3D in a Tables Match

I noticed that the fan feedback online to this match was largely positive. I don't fall in that camp as I was bored by most of it. Sure, it was an electric atmosphere (and I can tell you that firsthand being in the building for it), but I don't think the rules were ever made clear and it made the "eliminations" confusing. I didn't have high hopes for this to begin with, but I just wasn't as entertained as everyone else, and the flat finish was a weak way to end it. The show could've been significantly shorter had they trimmed some time off this and the post-match love fest.

Mike Santana def. Trick Williams to Win the TNA World Championship

Let me start off by saying that TNA absolutely should have pulled the trigger with Santana in Long Island at Slammiversary. The crowd would've been hotter for his title win there. That isn't to say this crowd didn't care, but the outcome felt far more predictable and it was already a long show, so they were quieter than they should have been. All in all, it was a solid main event and Santana's emotional title win was great, but I could've done without the brawling beforehand and the post-match shenanigans with the returning Elijah thwarting Kazarian and Nemeth's attempt to cash in their title shots.

Overall Show

Amazingly, this marked my first-ever live TNA pay-per-view (I went to TNA TV tapings in 2014, 2015 and 2023 but never a pay-per-view until now). It was an enjoyable experience, even if it wasn't the strongest show. Rather, it was very much a mixed bag. Slater vs. Evans was must-see, but the quality action was overshadowed by bad booking at times. TNA is in a good place on the whole at the moment, but they need to get out of their own way when it comes to dumb decisions.

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