PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

MIKE JOHNSON TAKES A LOOK AT LAST NIGHT'S TNA BOUND FOR GLORY PPV

TNA played up last night’s Bound for Glory PPV as their version of Wrestlemania, and in many aspects, it was treated that way with the talent going above and beyond the call of duty, a passionate crowd that loved their stars and what they were given, a nice surprise in the crowning of Rhino as the new NWA champion, an insane spot by Jeff Hardy, and a monster pop for Team 3-D.

Even with destiny having a different finish in mind for the Ultimate X match, nothing could put a downer on the evening for TNA’s stars and fans. There were a lot of guys going beyond their usual good work by pulling out big bumps and dives. If TNA is trying to catch a younger audience with a fast paced, frenetic style, they are going in the right direction based on the live crowd (see below). They need to fill in the niches that WWE doesn’t by pushing the characterization of the talents as hard as their in ring work. As long as they keep accentuating their positives and politics don’t become an issue, TNA is on the right road.

It was a weird sight live before the PPV went on the air as the audience was happy to be there but somewhat subdued. There were no big chants, no feel of electricity in the air as there have been for major shows I’ve attended over the years. Once TNA started the show, however, it was like a light flipped on and the place went nuts, with an audience loved their stars. It was interesting to note the demographics of the crowd, with a lot of teenage girls and women in their early 20s at the show, much higher than usual for a TNA event. The crowd seemed to be there to have a good time and enjoy themselves, as opposed to the smart fans that sometimes pervade wrestling shows today, trying to get over and make themselves more important than the show itself.

The Four Way opener with Sonjay Dutt defeating Roderick Strong, Austin Aries, and Alex Shelley was one of the best matches I’ve seen live in a long time. Roderick Strong is really coming into his own and at the rate he’s improving, it won’t be long before he’s considered a top tier worker. He reminds of of a mixture of Dean Malenko and Ron Garvin. He’s really upped his look and shown some dedication to his craft. Austin Aries’ new look really suits him and he comes off like a wrestling machine. Dutt and Shelley both looked awesome here as well. Shelley has commented that he was inspired by Dean Malenko in the past and it really showed here as he’s amazingly fluid in the ring. Dutt seemed really inspired here. It’s amazing to think about a year ago, he was gone from the company. The one spot to watch for during this was the four way submission, with each man trapping not one, but two opponents. A really original spot that we’ll likely see variations of in lots of indy Four Ways from this point forward. They did a good job setting the ton for the rest of the evening.

They then did an angle where Raven demanded his NWA title shot, until Rhino showed up and called out Raven for getting soft noting that a few years ago he took someone’s family hostage and crucified a man (Sandman in ECW on both accounts) but now he’s gone soft. Rhino accused him off letting a girl get into his head, although I have no idea if that was leading somewhere. It ended up with a brief brawl and Raven being dragged off. Rhino gored Cassidy Riley. The crowd called for him to do it again so Riley got drilled a second time. He bumped the hell out of himself taking the gore both times. The angle worked to explain Raven’s absence from the remainder of the show and did a good job of enticing fans at home to want to buy the PPV portion of the show.

The main show opened with a lot of pomp and circumstance from Samoa Joe’s fun Polynesian dancing entrance and the streamers tossed by the fans for Jushin Liger’s TNA debut. The match itself wasn’t what a lot of people expected it to be going in, but it was more about the moment of Joe choking out a legitimate legend clean in the middle of the ring. As a Joe fan, I couldn’t help but be happy for the guy. A few months ago, he was in a position where he wanted to take time off because he wasn’t making money financially and now he’s one of the top names in several companies of note. Beyond that, with his performances of late, one would think he’s going to be getting a Japanese offer at some point as well.

The six man tag with the Diamonds in the Rough defeated Shark Boy, Apollo, and Sonny Siaki was placed right where it should be with the right mix of comedy. Apollo hitting the dive outside the ring to the floor was a sight to see. It was good to see the Diamond be given a win as they needed to put some momentum behind the group. I’d like to see a valet added to given them a little pizzazz.

Monty Brown vs. Lance Hoyt was a lot better than I expected going in. There were some fans heckling Hoyt, calling him Test and Edge. You could tell this crowd was made up of a lot more of fans that traveled in as opposed to the Orlando regulars as Hoyt is usually one of the biggest babyfaces in the venue. They did a great spot where Brown went for the Pounce but got hit with a big boot to the face. Brown’s final Pounce was awesome as well.

3 Live Kru vs. Team Canada was what one expected going in. They finally got the New Age Outlaws storyline going again. It was weird to see Ron Killings suddenly like the idea of Kip James in their corner. I liked the swerve of James saving Konnan when he could have creamed him with the chair, which was reminiscent of the great angle where Shane Douglas saved Cactus Jack from Sandman and Terry Funk in ECW. I actually thought they’d have Konnan apologize to James on the mic for doubting him, but they’ve got to save something for TV.

One had to feel for the guys in the Ultimate X match as they were doing some crazy stuff and building to something when the X fell from the ropes. They tried hard to improvise by going outside the ring while the ring crew set the X back, but when it fell again, I thought the spot featuring Petey Williams praying for it to fall was a thing of beauty. Unfortunately for Williams, the call was made to ring the bell as he was the scheduled winner. Everyone involved was upset about the curtain being closed but realized it was out of their hands. To me, I thought it was a great finish from one standpoint because it came off like a great fluke play in baseball. From a performance standpoint, it killed the feel of the match and the moment and that’s a shame. However, the guys can always save whatever they had planned for the future, hopefully the primetime special. All three get an A for effort for this match, especially Michael Shane who think one of the sickest bumps I’ve seen in a while going to the floor off the top rope. The lesson to be learned from a production standpoint from the match is to come up with a new way to hang the X I guess.

America’s Most Wanted vs. The Naturals was the usual good match you get from these four being that they have great chemistry. James Storm and Gail Kim’s TNA characters are awesome. At some point, Storm will have to get his comeuppance with a bottle upside the head, but until then they are doing a great job of making him stand out as a real drunken jerk cowboy. For the first time, he feels like something more than just Chris Harris’ partner, which only makes the team stronger. They’ve had better matches but this wasn’t one they should have been ashamed of either.

The Monster’s Ball was plain awesome. As someone who loves those great, out of controls brawls, this was a top flight version in my opinion. Jeff Hardy takes a lot of flak for his performances sometimes, deservedly so, but one can’t deny that when he wants to be, he’s one of the craziest bumpers of all time, doing a dive that New Jack would have been jealous of. The early brawls in the crowd were fun with lots of insane and stiff shots. I was glad they didn’t do the thumbtack spot as it’s been done quite a bit lately and you don’t want it to lose its effect. Everyone here did a great job. A wonderfully brutal violent ballet. I also wanted to note that Jim Mitchell is one of the best talkers going, as only he could cut a promo and drop the term “copious amounts of blood” and make it work without it sounding campy.

What does one say about AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels that hasn’t already been written or that those of you reading this aren’t already aware of. These guys are the heart and soul of the company and have done a tremendous job of growing from overlooked talented performers to top tier main event players. I thought this was as perfect as a match could have been, with a great slow build, some awesome false finishes and back and forth pin attempts, Styles’ brilliant and desperate attempts to get to the ropes to escape Daniels’ submission attempts, the awesome sight of Styles diving off the stairs and over the referee into the crowd onto Daniels and the perfect moment of Styles, in a last minute bid to win, going for his finisher and getting it and the pin with a second left. Styles was crying after the bout and with good reason, he had just given all of his heart and soul in one of the best matches of his career. Daniels did a great job of selling how upset he was at losing but the crowd didn’t care who won or lost, they were appreciative of both for their effort in one great match.

The main event was booked as perfectly as it could have been with TNA turning the unfortunate negative of Kevin Nash’s health issues into a positive. The Gauntlet was interesting to watch. When Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles came back out injured after the performances they put on earlier in the evening for a chance to wrestle for the NWA title, the company added a ton of prestige to their top title. The Gauntlet was interesting to watch from both a booking and crowd standpoint. When Samoa Joe came out first, the crowd perked up, almost as if shocked he was put into that position. It’s amazing to see Joe, who had his doubters when he debuted, as one of the most popular wrestlers in the entire company after a tenure of just a few months. The crowd was highly behind him. The tease of Joe vs. Abyss was great with the two chopping the hell out of each other as the crowd ate up all of it. I was surprised to see Monty Brown out so quickly, but from a storyline standpoint, he can say that no one threw him over the ropes. It was interesting to see Billy Gunn tower over Samoa Joe at one point as well. The crowd loved Rhino going over, which was teased earlier in the night during the Raven segment.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Rhino was as good as one could hope for. The crowd was into the idea of a title change in a big way and the decision to put the NWA title on Rhino went over huge, much larger than anyone could have predicted. The audience sees him not as a WWE castoff, but as an ECW guy who wasn’t given his shot and now has what he deserves. The post-match beatdown and sequence of run-ins was perfect, with the crowd loving every bit of the mayhem. When Team 3-D’s music hit, the building exploded into what had to have been one of the biggest pops in company history. The entire build was a textbook for a big finish to a wrestling show meant to sent the crowd home happy and it did just that. Brother Ray especially seemed energized by the reaction and even told the crowd on the house mic that of all the places they had worked over the years, this night was the best, which is impressive when you think of the list of major shows and buildings that team has worked. The 30 minute post-match back and forth/brawl/beatdown on Eric Young was a nice plus for the crowd and I can’t imagine who might have attended the show live and not wanted to come back for the TV tapings this week.

Given the state of the business and the need for a new competitor to WWE to stand up, TNA made their stand tonight. If the event came off anywhere as good on TV as it did live, this is a show worth going out of your way to order a replay of. In many ways, TNA is an amalgam of some of the best wrestling styles popularized over the last decade, energized by one hell of a crew with a tremendous work ethic, an intensely intimate building, and a spin on some old concepts. I cannot state what the future holds for the company, but if there’s any justice, all the work that has been put into the last month will translate into the company’s biggest buyrate to date. It’s certainly deserved, as it was a really entertaining evening that showcased a really talented crew.

Mike Johnson can be reached at Mike@PWInsider.com.

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!

• Tweet