What did you think of Bound for Glory?

[Tom]

Surprised to see that the only topic in relation to BFG regards its attendance. So I thought I would make this one.

Personally, I found the show to be a hit and miss. On the plus side I liked the way that each individual match is leading towards a continuation for a particular character or storyline (maybe with the exception of the EC3 match). I also found the Angle vs Roode and Bully/Styles match to be highly entertaining, especially the former. Angle/Roode pulled off a good performance with some unique counters and near falls. Angle rejecting his place into the hall of fame added to the story here and did a good job of making us feel sympathy for him following his loss. So well done to both guys for pulling off a good match.

Bully/Styles on the other hand was pretty decent, and told an interesting story. You've got to admire Bully for his work on the stick, he truly has been the best heel I have watched in wrestling over the past year or so. He did a great job of hyping me up for the main event throughout the show, which is saying something considering I have seen fifteen minutes of Impact over the past couple of months. Dixie probably arrived out a little too early for my liking, she kinda stood there clueless for a bit as well but she played her heel role effectively and the crowd seem to be responding to her. Overall a good match with some decent spots, great acting by Bully and a performance by Styles that made you want to see him win. I am looking forward to the rematch on Impact.

I was a little dissapointed with Ultimate X, I thought it could have been a lot better given the participants. I never really got into the match, though the crowd was into it. Manik's hurricanrana to the outside of the ring was pretty impressive though, and Aries gave a very solid performance as expected. Sabin winning doesn't really excite nor dissapoint me, the way he won was actually pretty decent as well though I felt it could have been executed better. I am sure he will provide some entertaining matches with the belt anyway.

I skipped the tag team match, mainly because I am not invested in Bromance. The fact that Storm and Gunner lost the titles excites me though, I am hoping it leads to Storm breaking away and re-establishing himself as a top level main eventer like I think he deserves. I also skipped the Magnus/Sting match but was pleasently surprised by how it ended. Sting tapping to his own hold was a great way to put Magnus over and gain him heat for what looks to be an eventual heel turn. EC3 gave me little reason to care, though I expect TNA to push him hard in the coming months. The knockouts match was decent and Barbarian's niece looks like she will have a strong presence. I don't think she will reach the heights of Awesome Kong by any means but she is a decent addition to the roster. It was great seeing Gail Kim win the match as well, she is for me the best Knockout they have at the moment.

Overall, I thought the event was OK. It provided a couple of solid matches, and I liked the way all the matches left the audience with something to think about or look forward to, something WWE doesn't do often. It was not near to the standards of last years event and the surprises were not as effective as last years either.

What did you guys think of the event overall?

[Hanley!]

It was an okay show. Not terrible by any means, but for the "biggest show of the year" it was quite underwhelming. Every other TNA pay per view this year has not just been better, but a lot better. I could say the same about their big televised shows like No Surrender and Destination X. And even with the lackluster build it could have easily been better.

The X division title match was a big disappointment. There were some cool sequences, but things didn't really gel quite right. I think there might have been one person too many in there. Bringing the ladder into play slowed down the match and made it a lot less entertaining. It was also unbelievably fucking stupid. That really bothered me. It was supposed to be an Ultimate X match, not a damn ladder match. The reason the match was made was so that Hardy could do something new, but then he just wrestled a ladder match and ignored the Ultimate X stipulation? Whoever booked this was out of their mind. The finish was stupid too. It came across as awkward and didn't make anybody look good. Sabin's heel gimmick has been getting in the way of Sabin wrestling well since he turned and that's a big disappointment as it's taken away his biggest asset.

Abyss popped up again, but did not do so in a way that furthered Park's story line (or ended it). Nobody has cared about that angle in 6 months, pull the fucking trigger already. Abyss got a good pop and I love that he was using his awesome vintage music. But watching him squash Daniels and Kazarian was pretty underwhelming. Those are two of the biggest talents that TNA has - they're really over, really entertaining and they're work horses. They deserve better than this at the biggest show of the year. They deserve better than this in general.

The tag team title match was surprisingly good. I don't mind the Bro Mans being in contention, these guys are actually turning into underrated performers. However, that they won out of nowhere with no build is just confusing. This was their first ever win as a tag team. It was probably Robbie E's first win in over a year. That jobbers could randomly win the tag belts off a main event level guy and a badass brawler character was bizarre. Particularly when they had wrestled earlier that night. Not to mention the fact that they won clean. There was another stupid finish where Robbie E distracted the referee by throwing the belt in the ring - but as this happened, the Bro Mans put the champions away with completely legal moves. It was another piece of terrible, terrible booking. Good match though.

Roode v Angle was a great match. It was slow paced and methodical but still drew in the crowd. Lots of nice grappling and counters. I keep saying that Bobby Roode is possibly the best all rounder in the company and this proved that once again. The finish was weird again though. After Roode wearing Angle's neck down for the match, Angle did a suplex from the top rope and injured himself in the process, allowing Roode to get the win. I appreciate that they're doing something new with Angle's character, but why not just have Roode finish him with a move that targeted the neck? It took a lot of the oomph out of his win.

I am intrigued about where things are going with Angle though. Him turning down the Hall of Fame spot was interesting. It was the only piece of booking all night that left me curious as to where things are going. So that was a plus.

Ethan Carter should have debuted on Impact and not a pay per view. The two guys involved here didn't do a bad job particularly, but it was impossible to care in this context. This is not the kind of thing people want when they spend money on a pay per view.

The Knockout match was okay, but I just find ODB quite stale and she isn't capable of putting on great matches with most people. There were a couple of nice spots though and that might have been the best ref bump I've ever seen. Putting Awful Kong together with Kim is a wise move probably and her powerbomb actually looked good. So this was actually an okay finish for the first time in the night. What was up with Kim's face though? She looks like an entirely different person! I'm still half convinced they actually used a stand in.

Magnus v Sting was probably the worst match of the night. Sting did not care about that match at all. I was surprised by how lazy he was in the ring. I'm not the biggest fan of him being used in major matches, but I am somewhat fond of Sting as a personality and he is usually able to pull it out for the odd big match. He didn't at all here. And that sucks, because Magnus submitting him clean would have been a great way to get the young star over but the lack of momentum in the match led to the moment falling flat. Also the fact that they're obviously building up to a heel turn with Magnus bothers me to no end. Much like with Sabin, the fans want to like Magnus. He's over. People are enjoying his stuff. His push was the best thing about the Bound For Glory series and the Main Event Mafia reunion. He was heel less than a year ago. Don't turn him - let him build upon what he's been doing.

The main event was very entertaining, though unquestionably overbooked and confusing. They teased old Aces & Eights members returning which didn't happen. So why even bring it up? Dixie was out there for far too long and probably shouldn't have been out there at all. Styles win didn't get the reaction it should have due to things being overbooked. But there were some great moments. Bully and Styles worked pretty well together, the in ring banter was convincing and that springboard 450 through the table outside the ring was an insane spot. Best of the night by a freaking mile.

So in conclusion, it was pretty underwhelming. The wrestling was at least okay in every match except for Magnus v Sting. And it was great in a couple of matches. But the booking for the entire show was pretty bad. I could have booked a better show in my sleep.