 Pre-Show: Ash and Heather by Elegance def. Brinley Reece and Xia BrooksideThis bout had some build, but not nearly enough to justify it being on the main card, so it was wise to position it on the pre-show instead. It was pretty basic yet well worked. Not only was the heel duo going over the right call, I was pleasantly surprised that Reece took the pinfall loss for her team considering she's from WWE NXT and she could've easily been protected in defeat. Pre-Show: Frankie Kazarian Won the 20-Person Call Your Shot Gauntlet Battle RoyalTNA has been holding these Call Your Shot Battle Royals for the past few years and the surprises are usually the best part, but this one didn't have many of them. It was your standard Gauntlet Battle Royal, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Kazarian was perhaps the most obvious winner given the role he'd have in the TNA World Championship main event later on, but I liked how he threw out hometown hero (and new TNA Hall of Famer) Rhino last to win it. TNA X-Division Champion "Speedball" Mike Bailey def. El Hijo del VikingoThis was a smart choice to start the show. Granted, it had virtually no build, but they went in there, did their thing and had a very fun match in the process. Vikingo is a special talent and Bailey consistently delivers. As much as I enjoyed this, I'm hoping Bailey will have some real direction coming out of this event because he's largely been floundering since Slammiversary. TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champions Spitfire def. Wendy Choo and RosemaryI was honestly pulling for Choo and Rosemary to win, if only because it would've been cool for an NXT talent to hold a TNA title. Alas, it did not happen, but there's nothing with Spitfire getting a longer run. This was a perfectly adequate outing, much like most TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championship matches we've gotten this year. Rosemary attacked Choo afterward, so that pairing is officially over. Josh Alexander def. Steve MaclinI haven't been overly fond of the feud these two have had since it started up again recently, but a singles match was the right call over a multi-man tag team match with the rest of The Northern Armory, Eric Young and whoever else. This was the well-wrestled affair you'd expect from them and the reversal of the roles compared to last year was a nice twist. Alexander needed this win coming off his string of losses to Nic Nemeth and Joe Hendry. TNA Digital Media Champion and International Wrestling Heavyweight Champion PCO def. Matt Cardona in a Monster's Ball MatchIt's a bummer Steph De Lander got injured because I'm sure she would've had a big part to play in this match if she was cleared to compete, but kudos to PCO and Cardona for having a hell of a brawl, regardless. Monster's Ball matches have become PCO specialty and you know what you're getting, but the crowd always eats this stuff up. It helped that Cardona has become a self-proclaimed deathmatch king over the last three years and was right at home in this environment as well. Mike Santana def. MooseSantana has really broken out as a singles star this year and it's been awesome to see. This was an excellent opportunity for him to rise to the occasion and he definitely did so against a credible opponent. Santana scoring the win was the correct outcome and an endorsement of his future. This was very good stuff from him and Moose. I wouldn't mind a rematch with a stiulation. Masha Slamovich def. Jordynne Grace to Win the TNA Knockouts World ChampionshipWhile I didn't like how lazily this match came together (there wasn't even a hint TNA was building toward this until about a month or so ago), I'm glad they finally came around to putting the belt on Slamovich and having her avenge her previous losses to Grace from a few years ago. They had their usual quality contest and Slamovich beating Grace (who's been an unstoppable force all year) felt like a real passing of the torch. Grace has to be WWE bound soon, right? TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth def. Joe Hendry (Frankie Kazarian Served as Special Guest Referee)You had to know Nemeth was retaining as soon as it became clear that this wasn't headlining. I was fine with Hendry not winning the title at Slammiversary because Bound for Glory made the most sense, but this was a stupid finish. No matter where it goes, not pulling the trigger on Hendry at this point is extremely questionable. The actual match was solid but was hurt by the babyface vs. babyface dynamic in my opinion, not to mention the overbooked finish with JBL interfering and Kazarian also attempting to cash in his title shot. The Hardys def. The System (Brian Myers and Eddie Edwards) and ABC in a Three-Way Full Metal Mayhem Match to Win the TNA World Tag Team ChampionshipIf Hendry wasn't going to win the TNA World Championship, this was an appropriate main event for the show. The action was entertaining and everyone had a chance to shine. I don't know if The Hardys need to be in Ladder matches at this stage of their careers, but thankfully, they didn't seem to get hurt. There was plenty of chaos and the crowd reacted favorably to the title change. Overall ShowThe decision to not belt Hendry combined with the ridiculous finish will bother me for a little while, but the rest of Bound for Glory was thumbs-up worthy. The build coming into it was all over the place, but as TNA has been known to do in recent years, they pulled through with a strong show featuring some satisfying matches and title changes. TNA has a few moving parts right now that should keep things interesting going forward.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
May 2025
|
RSS Feed