TNA Bound for Glory 2013 Review

TNA's flagship event Bound for Glory took place on Sunday 20^th October at the Viejas Arena in San Diego. Will he see the end of Aces and Eights after this event? Let's take a look.

The first match is an Ultimate X match for the X-Division Championship with Manik being challenged by Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries, Chris Sabin and Samoa Joe. I generally like Ultimate X matches as they are normally quite entertaining. As I expected, this match was a lot of fun to watch. You had Manik doing hurracarranas to everybody; Samoa Joe pulling Manik off the ropes into an inverted atomic drop; Jeff Hardy doing the twist of fate on Chris Sabin. The end comes when Sabin forces Velvet Sky into the ring to help him out. Jeff Hardy gets distracted and Sabin, taking a leaf out of Edge's manual "How to be the Ultimate Opportunist" (newly available for TNA wrestlers) runs up the ladder that was set up earlier and grabs the belt to become the new X-Division Champion. I found the ending to be quite interesting as it emphasised Sabin's heel run and the direction that they are going with it; using any means possible to win the match. I can see him probably using Velvet more to win matches for him, albeit inadvertantly.

Winner: Chris Sabin

Predictions: 0 for 1

Next we get the throughly enjoyable Bad Influence come out and demand they are added to the Tag Team Championship match. Unfortuantely, they are interrupted by Eric Young, who annoys the fuck out of me. Young tells them to leave and he's attacked by Bad Influence. Abyss then comes out and proceeds to destroy Daniels and Kazarian with black hole slams. This was a fun segment and it's nice to see Abyss.

Now we get the Tag Team Championship match with Gunner and James Storm being challenged by BroMans. This match was actually entertaining and with some good stuff from the BroMans. Storm almost wins it with a top rope elbow drop for a 2 count and Robbie E thought he won it when he reversed the eye of the storm into a DDT. In the end, BroMans win the match when Robbie E throws one of the Championship belts into the ring. The referee takes it back out and this gives BroMans the chance to hit the Bro Down to get the pinfall. I have to admit, very few people expected the BroMans to win this but I'm ok with that. It will be interesting to see what direction they go with it.

Winners: BroMans

Predictions: N/A

Now we get a segment in which Kurt Angle respectfully declines his induction into the Hall of Fame, saying he doesn't deserve it right now. It was interesting to see as I'm a big fan of Kurt Angle. I do agree with him that he doesn't deserve right now, only because he is still an active wrestler. I have nothing against the TNA Hall of Fame, it's just they're inducting active wrestlers and I think they should focus on guys who have now retired that wrestled for them at the beginning. Anyway, we'll wait and see if this develops into a storyline.

We get the a triple threat match for the Knockouts Championship next with Gail Kim and Brooke challenging ODB. I didn't know what to expect of this match and I enjoyed it. There was a bit where Gail Kim is about to corner splash ODB and Brooke shoulder tackled her out of the ring to a sickening thud. That happened quite early on in the match so I didn't think that Gail was out of it. We get a ref bump when he gets hit by an avalanche splash by ODB followed by a missile dropkick by Gail. Lei'd Tapa comes out and hits a big foot on ODB followed by a powerbomb on Brooke. Gail, who was half out of it after getting flattened by ODB a moment earlier, takes a leaf out of Edge's manual "How to be the Ultimate Opportunist (female edition)" and pins Brooke to win the match and become Knockouts Champion. It is then revealed that Lei'd Tapa has joined forces with Gail. I was surprised that Gail won the match but it seem set a feud between them and ODB, which could be good.

Winner: Gail Kim

Predictions: 0 for 2

Booby Roode taking on Kurt Angle has the potential to be a very good contest. It was a very technical contest to begin with; and Roode focusing on Angle's neck. Angle looked like when he reversed the crossface into an anklelock. Roode manages to reverse it back into the corssface. The end comes when Angle does a top rope Samoan drop, which leaves both guys down. The referee does a count and Roode gets up at the count of 9 and pins Angle to get the win. Afterwards, doctors check on Angle. I enjoyed the match, although I thought the ending seemed a little bit out of place. It was a surprise that Roode won in that way, and I hope it leads to more matches between the two.

Winner: Bobby Roode

Predictions: 0 for 3

We get a bonus match with Ethan Carter III facing random wrestler Norv Fernum. Yeah, this match doesn't last long as after a few minutes, EC3 hits the one percenter to get the win.Whilst this was a pointless which probably had no place in the biggest event of the year, I like EC3's character. I didn't really see much of him when he was Derrick Bateman in WWE, but he was probably lost in the shuffle. EC3 has the potential to be a star in TNA and I look forward to seeing what he can do.

Winner: Ethan Carter III

Predictions: N/A

The penultimate match is between Magnus and Sting. I'm not really a big fan of Magnus but it should be interesting to see what he can do in a match with Sting. I like the story that they told here with Magnus getting frustrated in the beginning; and both guys showing respect by holding the ropes for their opponent. Sting applies the scorpion death lock, which didn't look good and Magnus powers out of it quite easily. After a little bit of back and forth, Magnus applies the cloverleaf and Sting taps out to get the win. Afterwards, we get a very brief handshake between the two. I thought the match was quite good and it helped to make Magnus look like a contender.

Winner: Magnus

Predictions: 1 for 4

The main event is one that can have far-reaching consequences for TNA as AJ Styles challenges Bully Ray in a no-disqualification match for the TNA World Championship. This is a match that has a lot riding on it and I have to say, both competitors did really well in this match. You had Bully being methodical and mocking AJ. AJ makes a comeback and applies the calfkiller. Bully Ray gets saved almost immediately when Garrett "Future of the Business" Bischoff comes in and distracts AJ. Bully Ray takes to take advantage of this but fails. Mike Knox comes in later on and chokeslams AJ; but when Bully pins AJ, it only gets 2. There was a brutal bit when AJ tries a 450 splash to the outside but misses and crashes through the timekeeper's table. Bully then decides to expose the wooden boards under the padding of the ring. TNA President Dixie Carter comes out and helps out Bully by providing a chair. That backfires when AJ comes and hits a springboard clothesline followed by a springboard 450 splash. Dixie demands that referee Earl Hebner doesn't make the count. However, he defies her and makes the count which Bully kicks out at 2. Despite Aces and Eights and Dixie Carter helping Bully out, it turns out to be vain as AJ hits the spiral tap to get the victory and become the new TNA World Champion. Although I enjoyed the match, it felt that it could have been booked better. I thought that Aces and Eights came out a bit too early and it would have been nice to see Brooke help Bully out a little. As for Dixie, I enjoyed her role in this match, although I still find it weird that she is helping a group that she spent most of the year feuding with. I suppose the angle they're going for is that Dixie may not want Bully as Champion; but that is not as much as her not wanting AJ Styles being Champion, especially has he doesn't have a contract. It seems like they're going in the direction that WWE did with Punk in 2011. That's fine but they have a chance to take it in a different direction and I hope that they do.

Winner: AJ Styles

Predictions: 2 for 5

I enjoyed Bound for Glory. I'm not quite sure if it was their best PPV of the year but it was still pretty good. TNA has had a bad year, with losing revenue resulting in releasing a fair portion of their talent and the rumours of them being up for sale. I hope 2014 can be a better year and with the talent they have, it is possible. Hopefully, they can start to release some of the older guys and build up the younger talent. If they don't, I'm afriad that they will go the direction that WCW did and they will not end well.