TNA Bound for Glory 2011

TNA Bound for Glory 2011

Philadelphia, PA - October 2011

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this event, the TNA World Champion was Kurt Angle, the X-Division Champion was Austin Aries, the Knockouts Champion was Winter, Tara and Miss Tessmacher were the Knockouts Tag Team Champions, Eric Young was the TV Champion, and Mexican America (Hernandez and Anarquia) were the TNA World Tag Team Champions.

TNA left Orlando for this show, its biggest event of the year. A video package highlighted the main events with heavy emphasis on the in-ring return of Hulk Hogan, his first in well over a year (and his final televised match, period). 

The X-Division Champion, Austin Aries, defended his title in the opening match against Brian Kendrick, the former titleholder. This was a rematch from No Surrender and something of a "bone" being thrown to the Philadelphia crowd who knew these guys from Ring of Honor (Aries got a hero's welcome with the fans chanting his name loud enough to be heard over his entrance music). Highlights included Kendrick's crossbody to the floor early on, an excellent suicide dive by Austin Aries that pushed Kendrick into the guard rail with tremendous force, Aries eating a perfect tornado DDT in the second half, and Aries' spiritied bumping throughout. Aries had to work against type a bit as the audience reacted positively to everything he did, even some of his more overt heel shtick like "shushing" the crowd. The finishing sequence, which saw each guy counter the other's finisher, forcing them to find new ways to apply and execute their signature move was very good. This was an improvement from their No Surrender match, not just because of the hotter crowd but because of the better closing stretch, but I still wouldn't consider this "must see." (3/5)

Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn in a Full Metal Mayhem match was next. The story here is that Lynn was jealous of Van Dam's main event success. A huge "ECW" chant started up as soon as they locked up, which was to be expected. RVD was moving much slower here than he was in their matches a decade earlier and they botched a couple spots early with RVD falling to the mat after an agility spot and then both guys tumbling into the ropes on a crossbody. RVD missed on a springboard moonsault off the guardrail, allowing Lynn to grab hold of a ladder and slide it into the ring. RVD tried to grab a chair but Lynn dropkicked the ladder into him and grabbed it himself instead. Back in the ring, RVD hit a crossbody off the second rope onto Lynn onto the chair for 2. RVD followed it up with a chair-assisted running dropkick in the corner, one of his trademark spots. RVD set up the ladder in the corner and sent Lynn into it and then hit a Rolling Thunder on the ladder as it lay atop of Mr. JL. Van Dam does a truly dumb springboard back flip for no reason and attempts to grab a chair but fairly gets it up in time for Lynn's dropkick. I appreciate the effort, but the execution depended on perfect timing and it didn't pan out. Oof. RVD ends up on the ladder and Lynn goes for a double leg-drop but RVD moves out of the way. RVD throws the chair at Lynn and goes for a heel kick but Lynn counters by throwing the chair straight into his head! Cool. Lynn goes for a suplex on the chair but RVD counters by suplexing him onto the ladder and then hitting a springboard moonsault onto it for 2. That looked good. Lynn goes to the floor and grabs another ladder, setting it up against the guardrail. They do some fighting on the apron and RVD goes for a suplex through the ladder, but Lynn counters it into a sunset flip powerbomb and misses the ladder entirely, knocking Van Dam's head into the rail! Ouch! That was imperfect but made the spot more violent. RVD kicks out and Lynn grabs the chair. This time RVD connects with the jumping spin kick into the chair! RVD set Lynn up for a Van Terminator (coast-to-coast) and connected, sending the ladder into Lynn's face and getting a loud "Holy Shit" chant for it. For as sloppy and dumb as some of these spots were, I won't deny that this was an entertaining spotfest. (3/5)

Backstage, Dixie Carter is shown arriving in the arena. The story going into the Hogan/Sting match is that, if Sting wins, Carter will be reinstated as the President of TNA. We then get a video package hyping the next bout...

Crimson vs. Matt Morgan vs. Samoa Joe in a three-way grudge match. This is an era of Joe's career that is hard to watch at times because he seemed so unmotivated. Morgan and Crimson teamed up on Joe early, but it wasn't long before we got some tension between the babyfaces. Joe was the clear "anchor" of the match, hitting a beautiful dive to the floor onto Crimson. Morgan came off the top with a splash that also connected with Crimson as Joe laughed. Back in the ring, Crimson and Morgan finally got into it, exchanging big right hands. Joe tripped up Morgan and sent him into the guardrail and then went after Crimson in the ring, connecting with a Pele Kick and then trying for a Muscle Buster. Morgan prevented him from landing him and Crimson landed a spear on Joe (after a Carbon Footprint by Morgan) to get the W. Joe was clearly the best worker of the three and carried this match, though the company saw big things in Crimson (that never materialized to few people's surprise). Thanks to Joe's performance and the wise decision to keep it short and physical and hide Crimson's inexperience by making it a multi-man, this was okay. (2.5/5)

Bully Ray cuts a promo backstage about how bad he is and how ill-prepared his opponent, Ken Anderson, is for their match tonight. Bully talks about how he has been exploiting Philadelphia for 15 years, taking advantage of its "white trash" fans and making sure to say that he's not from Philly, but from NYC. This was a smart way to try to get heat in front of an audience that was likely to cheer him based on being an ECW guy.

Bully Ray vs. Ken Anderson in a Falls Count Anywhere match was next. Anderson eschewed his usual intro to run to the ring and take the fight right to Bully. Lots of energy to start things with Anderson landing a big shot to the groin but then eating a big boot soon after to slow things down. Bully hit some stiff open-hand chops in the corner but Anderson landed a jumping kick and got a 2-count. Anderson went to the floor and grabbed a hold of a sign that was - you guessed it - actually a steel Dead End street sign. Not the most original spot, but this crowd was craving ECW callbacks and it was wise to give those to Anderson. Ray rolled out of the ring and Anderson followed him, dousing him with a cup of beer. An overzealous fan splashed one onto Anderson (and he looked legit surprised and pissed). Bully mounted a comeback and grabbed a table. Anderson and Bully fought their way up the ramp before it could be used, though, with Anderson attempting a suplex on the stage only to take one himself. Bully mocked Anderson's intro and brought the microphone down, which Anderson then used to clobber him in the head. Ray was bleeding a bit as they fought into the backstage area. Ray hit a not-so-pretty piledriver on the concrete but Anderson got a shoulder up. There was a time when that would've been sold like death. Ray grabbed a chair and tried to choke Anderson out with it before leading him back into the arena. Anderson fought back and hit a short-arm clothesline and then a stomp to the groin. Back to the ringside area they went, trading fists. Anderson took apart the guardrail, bringing a piece into the ring. As he tried to get it inside, Bully caught him with a clothesline and grabbed another table, sliding it into the ring as well. Bully set it up but got back body dropped onto the guard rail, bending it. Anderson then went for a senton but landed on the rail when Bully rolled out of the way! Bubba Bomb through the table! 1...2...kickout! Bubba set up Anderson on the rail and went for a senton himself - not a move usually in his repertoire, but whatever - but Anderson evaded it and hit a Mic Check onto the rail for 2. Ray rolled out of the ring as the camera showed that Anderson had a busted lip. Anderson grabbed a trash can and bashed it over Bully's face, causing him to lay down on the table at ringside. Anderson climbed to the top rope, blood dripping down from his nose/lip, and hit a senton but the table didn't break (bummer). Bully rolled to the floor and the two clearly had to work out a new finish with Anderson hitting the Mic Check through the table to get the W. I'm not a huge fan of either guy, but this was a career match for both as they gave each other hell, told a very straight-forward and physical story, and smartly built it around Anderson getting to have multiple "ECW" moments to keep the babyface/heel dynamic consistent. (4/5)

The Knockouts Championship was on the line next with Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne (doing a Beauty Queen gimmick at this time), and Mickie James challenging Winter with Karen Jarrett serving as the guest referee. I should deduct a half-point for Sky's tacky entrance, which included her - for no real reason aside from tantalizing the viewers - wiggling her butt as she climbed into the ring directly into the camera. Pervy stuff there. Winter was accompanied by Angelina Love. This match was fought under somewhat odd rules as it was essentially a tag match where the winner would leave with the Knockouts Championship but anyone could tag in anyone. This was decent enough to start, with Jarrett trying to keep the heels on top, refusing to count pinfalls for the babyfaces and forcing Sky and James to wrestle while Rayne and Winter rested up. The latter was particularly beneficial because James and Sky had the best chemistry of the four. All four ended up in the ring with the babyfaces taking over quickly and Jarrett doing a bunch of nothing to prevent it. It becomes James and Winter battling it out and then Love causes a distraction. Winter sprays mist into the eyes of Jarrett, which prevents her from making the count. In comes Tracy Brooks...and it's unclear what exactly she was trying to do as she rolls into the ring and just sorta stands there. Rayne shoves James to the floor. In comes Sky to hit a Pedigree and Brooks makes the count...and somehow that counts? I'm not sure how that works but maybe they had established that Brooks had "referee powers"? This wasn't terrible - in fact, it was a clear step up from the match from the Knockouts championship match at No Surrender - but the finish was bad and made no sense. (1.5/5)

Backstage, Frankie Kazarian talks about how two members of Fourtune - AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels - will be competing tonight and he is "torn" between them.

The aforementioned Styes/Daniels "I Quit" match is next. The hype video plays up how there is, arguably, nobody on the roster who is more "TNA" than these two, both of whom helped define the early X-Division, and then goes into how this match came to be. They trade fists to start with Daniels hitting a Flatliner and then trying to choke Styles out. Styles throws some kicks in and then inexplicably sees if Daniels wants to quit...uh...in minute 2? Styles applies an armbar, an abdominal stretch, and an Indian Deathlock (!) but Daniels won't quit that early. Daniels does some work on AJ's neck but Styles comes back and hits a dropkick and then a gorgeous front flip splash to the floor. Daniels goes under the ring to grab a tool box and ends up with a wrench in his hand (that he throws violently at AJ, who dodges it). Daniels grabs a screwdriver and tries to stab AJ in the face, but AJ kicks his way free. Daniels ends up stabbing it into the turnbuckle and then eating some forearms on the apron. We get a weird spot where Daniels puts him up for an atomic drop of some kind but AJ ends up falling back hard from having his legs hit the top rope. I'm not sure what they were going for there. Daniels pops AJ up to the sky with a back body drop and then applies a very loose, one-handed chinlock while he asks AJ if he quits yet. Daniels hits a BME as AJ is getting up from the mat, landing squarely on his back. Daniels applies a half-crab, flipping off the crowd as he does so. AJ won't give up, though, reaching the ropes to climb himself out of the move. Daniels hits a nifty backbreaker and goes back out of the ring to grab a chair. He unfolds it over AJ's torso and tries to choke him out with the bottom "rung" (?). For a guy not known for his mic skills or charisma, this is the most "unhinged" and animated Daniels performance I've ever seen as he is an insufferable heel, flipping off the crowd, laughing at AJ after hitting him with the BME, cutting soliloquoy promos, etc. Styles is bleeding a bit as Daniels sits on the chair over him, telling him that he never even wanted to hear Styles says the words "I..." (but then doesn't say the word "Quit," which is brilliant). Daniels then talks directly to Styles' wife before trying to bash him with the chair. Styles dodges a splash in the corner and then lands a huge lariat, a spin kick, and some forearms. Styles hits the backflip DDT out of the corner, super fired-up, and then some more strikes before landing the Phenomenal Forearm. Styles goes for the Styles Clash but Daniels counters it and we have another quick back-and-forth sequence. Pele Kick connects! Styles Clash! Styles looks over to the chair but then drops it...in favor of the screwdriver! Daniels grabs the microphone and quits, though, ending the match in truly cowardly fashion. Styles ends up stabbing the mat as Daniels runs away. I could see the argument that at least portions of this match were very "southern" and old school and I even liked Daniels cranking up the knob on his chickenshit heel dial, but I didn't love the somewhat lackluster finish. The good outweighed the bad here, but this was a strange match with one foot in "old school" territory and the other in the usual AJ/Daniels X-Division genre. (3/5)

As AJ exits the ring area, Daniels attacks him and hits his Angel Wings finisher on the stage to seemingly extend the rivalry. Lame. 

Jeff Jarrett showed up next, immediately getting into it with the fans. Jarrett had appeared on the previous episode of Impact to threaten Jeff Hardy (according to Mike Tenay). Jarrett runs down Hardy a bit, which brings him out to the ring. A brawl ensues and they get pulled apart. Hardy celebrates in the ring a bit while Jarrett is escorted to the back, yelling "Nobody wants you here." Filler segment.

Sting vs. Hulk Hogan followed in a match to decide who would be in control of TNA (Sting was "representing" Dixie Carter). The pre-match video highlights some but not all of Hogan's run in WCW, how he and Bischoff took over the company and headed it as both babyfaces (initially) and heels (later on). In the build-up to this match, Hogan was back to being something of a fan favorite (or at least a "tweener") due to him announcing his retirement and distancing himself (a little bit at least) from Bischoff while Sting was doing his Joker-inspired "tweener" character (but was also leaning more towards being a face by this point). It was all a bit murky, or at least it seems murky to me as someone who wasn't 100% following this storyline at the time. Anyway...Garrett Bischoff was the referee for this match, stacking the odds against the Stinger. Dixie Carter was shown watching the match from the stands. Sting was sporting a Hulkamania shirt, playing mind games with the Hulkster, while Hogan was in full pants (with knee pads) and an Impact tank top. Before they could lock up, Hogan brought out Ric Flair to a huge pop, showing that he too knew how to play mind games. They finally locked up and Sting applied a side headlock but got sent to the ropes. Sting came back and ran into Hulk's shoulder, which led to Hulk doing some posing to a huge pop. Hogan went into his routine, hitting the Stinger with punches and stomping on his face. Hogan applied a chinlock as Carter watched on worried. Sting fought out but ate another clothesline before going to the floor. Hogan continued to control and raked Sting's back (and front) and then leveled him with another right hand before tossing him to the outside. On the floor, Flair used his jacket to choke Sting and then hit him with a low blow. Hogan hit him with another one, but, because its Bischoff's son, the ref allows it. Hogan maintained control on the outside, using the guardrail and his teeth, before jabbing at the Stinger with some sort of "spike," opening him up. Hogan did some strutting but Sting came back with a series of rights and Hogan finally took a bump! Sting hit him with another series of punches and Hogan took a second back bump (one more than I expected he'd do the entire match). On the floor, Sting grabbed the "spike" from Flair and brought it into the ring to get some revenge, opening up Hogan's head with it (and causing Hulk to take his third back bump of the match). Sting hit the Splash in the corner, knocked Flair off the apron, and then hit a second splash! Sting then applied the Scorpion Deathlock and Hogan tapped, forcing Bischoff to end the match and give the victory to the Stinger. After the match, Flair attacked Sting, stomping on him, which led to Bischoff and the rest of Immortal coming out too. Bully, Steiner, and Gunner hit Sting with a bunch of chairshots and the camera showed Abyss watching, seemingly afraid to help. Garrett Bischoff tried to stop them from doing any more damage but ate a chairshot from Eric Bischoff! The beatdown continued with Flair hitting some punches in the corner and Steiner hitting another chairshot. Sting begged Hogan for help, and, inspired by the chanting crowd, Hogan ripped his shirt and cleaned house, taking out Immortal to a huge pop! Bischoff was left in the fetal position in the corner and finally got his comeuppance via a right hand from the Hulkster. Credit where its due, this was imperfect and the "wrestling" was obviously very basic, but for a retirement match, this hit a lot of "feel good" moments and the crowd absolutely loved the conclusion and post-match stuff. (3/5)

Main event time - Kurt Angle defending the TNA World Championship against Bobby Roode. The story coming into this match was that Roode had been working for 13 years to finally get his shot at the TNA World Championship and had won the Bound for Glory Series to earn it. This would not be his night, though, as he lost a hard fought battle when Angle used the ropes for leverage to pin him after an Angle Slam and the referee also failed to see that Roode had one of his hands under the rope. There was one really great sequence in this match in this match about 2/3rds of the way in, but the rest of this didn't feel super special or particularly great and the finish was an absolute downer. I try not to rate matches too harshly on a booking decision I disagree with, but TNA had done a really good job of establishing Roode as a worthy challenger to their "ace" and to have it end in such over-the-top screwy finish didn't do either guy any favors. Sure, Roode didn't do the job cleanly, but he still lost. Meanwhile, throughout 2011 and at various other key times, Angle was booked in somewhat bizarre fashion as both the very best technical wrestler in the company who could cleanly defeat anyone and also someone who needed interference and heel tactics to win. I get that he's a heel here, but if that were more thoroughly established, why didn't Roode have any of his buddies out there to make sure Angle didn't pull any tricks? Seems like they promoted this match as a true 1-on-1 battle with Angle in "tweener" mode for the build-up and then just decided, "For this match, let's have him be a crafty coward" because they didn't want to give Roode the W. Not a bad match, but not a strong way to finish the show. (They arguably should've ended the night with Hogan/Sting as it would've at least sent the crowd home happy.) (3/5)

Is this the best TNA PPV ever? With a Kwang Score of 2.88-out-of-5, it is at least in the running as it is tied with Turning Point 2009 for the highest score of the shows I've reviewed. A better Knockouts Championship match and finish to the main would've absolutely helped this show, but I'd still consider a fun show overall. The Sting/Hogan match is better than it probably had any right to be considering how limited Hulk was in his movements and how muddled the storyline was by this point and if the Bully Ray/Anderson match isn't the best singles match of Bully's career, I couldn't name a match that tops it off the top of my head. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand