Powell's TNA Bound For Glory Hitlist: Hulk Hogan vs. Sting, Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode, Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn, Austin Aries vs. Brian Kendrick, Samoa Joe vs. Matt Morgan vs. Crimson, A.J. Styles vs. Christopher Daniels
Oct 17, 2011 - 03:48 PM |
Dot Net Members are listening to the 113-minute audio review of TNA Bound For Glory that Chris Shore, Will Pruett, and I recorded last night after the show. Chris attended the show in a movie theater and shared details from that unique perspective. Join us on the ad-free version of the website by signing up now via the Dot Net Members' Signup Page.
TNA Bound For Glory Hits
Hulk Hogan vs. Sting: The turn defied all logic and the match itself would normally be nothing to write home about, but the only thing that matters in this case is that the live crowd absolutely loved it. I question Hogan's sanity, yet also give him credit for working despite his back issues. I think he's crazy for taking flat back bumps in that they added nothing to the match and he clearly took them to show that he still could based on some of his Twitter comments. I don't think it was worth the risk, but I guess he knows his body and medical prognosis better than I ever will. Again, the live crowd ate up the nostalgia kick and regardless of the match quality, this was the most over moment of the entire show. I also didn't have a problem with Hogan playing into the fan cheers before the match. Granted, he rarely goes out of his way to turn the crowd completely against him, but I didn't have an issue with it here simply because he was turning babyface.
Austin Aries vs. Brian Kendrick: As much as I despise the crazy Kendrick character, I enjoy watching him work. That said, Aries has singlehandedly breathed new life into the X Division. He's a credible champion and it's a lock that he's going to deliver a strong in-ring performance every time he gets in the ring. It's just a shame that Kendrick continues to play this character because there is money in Aries being chased by a babyface who has a real connection with the crowd.
Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn: Lynn seems to be the only guy who can get Van Dam motivated these days. They clearly enjoy working together and continue to deliver match of the night contenders. It's just a shame that TNA didn't do a better job of setting up this match. It should have been on at least in the middle of the card, which needed a reliable match to avoid things falling apart. It was odd to see Lynn stand up and shake Van Dam's hand right after taking the Van Terminator. My guess is that this was the end of the line for Lynn in TNA, and thus it could be the last time we see these two work together on a big stage.
Mr. Anderson vs. Bully Ray: A minor Hit. I appreciate the way Bully Ray turned the live crowd against him when this could have easily turned into a homecoming moment given his ties to Philadelphia via the ECW glory days. It should be the norm, but sadly it really stands out these days when a heel goes out there with the goal of being booed. Anderson missing the big spot at the end of the night was a disappointment. He recovered quickly and hit an acceptable move through the table, but that miss definitely brought the crowd down a notch.
TNA Bound For Glory Misses
Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Roode: This was not an acceptable big pay-per-view finish. I assume their time was cut, as it felt like they rushed into spots that you would normally see later in matches. Getting back to the finish, I can live with Angle going over clean if that's what the company felt was the right move, but I hate seeing a cheap finish in the main event of the company's biggest event of the year. TNA has to know that if they want fans to take this event seriously, the company itself has to do their part by establishing that it's a special event from the standpoint that you can count on seeing a clean and decisive finish in the main event.
Velvet Sky vs. Winter vs. Madison Rayne vs. Mickie James: A sloppy mess of a match. I'm not sure who came up with the bright idea of adding an inexperienced referee to a four corners Knockouts match, and that's coming from someone who enjoys the Karen Jarrett act. The finish of this match was also ridiculous, and the company failed to make Velvet Sky winning the Knockouts Title feel like a special moment.
Christopher Daniels vs. A.J. Styles: The match failed to live up to my admittedly lofty expectations. The "I Quit" stipulation did way more damage than good. Daniels just kept talking and talking and talking. The "shut the f--- up" chants was not an example of good heat. Sadly, I think Daniels received more mic time in this match than he has in some entire months on Impact. The post-match attack was nice in that it kept the feud going, but they cut away from it so quickly that it didn't feel significant. Can we just get to the part where these two get to have a normal match without unnecessary gimmicks?
Crimson vs. Samoa Joe vs. Matt Morgan: If TNA wants Crimson to be a breakout star, then why in the world did they put him in the ring with a popular babyface and a heel who generally gets way more cheers than boos? Throw in the fact that Crimson's gear made him look like mini-Morgan and this did way more harm than good for Crimson despite the fact that he went over. Meanwhile, Samoa Joe didn't do Crimson any favors. He never even tried to turn the crowd against him. Rather, he even paused to soak up the cheers before performing a move at one point. Morgan performed a big dive off the ropes, which is impressive for a man that size, and was the highlight of the match.
Jackson James reveal: We've known for months that James is actually Eric Bischoff's son. TNA did a good job of giving him plausible deniability when his ref work helped the heels, but then he became just another referee. I assumed they were saving the reveal for a big screwjob angle, especially since we seem to get plenty of those on pay-per-view. Instead, I was left questioning why they paid it off in the least creative way possible only to have Bischoff attack his own son just a short time later.
Mexican America vs. Ink Inc.: The match failed to give a final nudge to viewers who were on the fence about ordering the pay-per-view. It felt way too soon to have Toxine (lousy name) play such a prominent role. In fact, if Mexican America was going over, then why not have the women get involved and save the Toxine debut for TV this week to breathe some new life into the babyface challengers? Watching Anarquia cover up his singlet as if he was nude was absurd.
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