TNA Bound For Glory 2015 took place on October 4th 2015 at the Cabarrus Arena in Concord, North Carolina, and was the second, and last TNA PPV of 2015. The commentary team featured Josh Matthews and “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero. The card included seven matches (and one dark match), with five championships being defended, and the first Bound For Gold gauntlet match, which gave the winner a future championship match of their choice.
It was the first Bound For Glory event to air live in the United States for two years, as BFG 2014 was taped in Japan. Despite Bram, Rockstar Spud, Taryn Terrell, and Brooke featuring on promotional posters, they did not appear.
I’ve enjoyed the product for years, through all its ups-and-downs, but there have been moments of disappointment, especially when “big announcements” fall short. Even more so when Dixie, Jarrett, Sting, or Angle apologize for the creative, only to follow-up by failing to deliver necessary change.
So while TNA has become a joke to some, the promotion continues to be an alternative in my eyes. I like being able to watch a show with good workers, and the talent are allowed freedom in the ring. However, It’s not a show which shocks and amazes nowadays. The roster has been in a transitional rebuilding phase since Hogan, Sting, AJ Styles, and other TNA originals left the company following impending pay cuts; the company made a business decision to cut back on expensive contracts.
In recent times, TNA has centered its booking around Ethan Carter III, who made his debut at Bound For Glory 2013, and he’s remained unpinned ever since. In the past two years, the booking has done right with the handling of EC3, who went from WWE jobber Derrick Bateman, to an undefeated World Heavyweight Champion. I have read praise from wrestling fans in regards to Ethan Carter III and his heel work, and I have to agree, he’s very good.
It’s time to review the card for BFG 2015. The article is not a play-by-play of the event, I will not be calling every move, but I will give the highlights, and each match will be rated using the following scale: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Average, Poor, and Terrible.
Match #1 – Tigre Uno (c) vs. DJ Z vs. Andrew Everett in an Ultimate X match for the TNA X Division Championship – Match Length: (10:02)
TNA has started Bound For Glory with the national anthem or fireworks in the past, but nope, we start with another typical Ultimate X match with zero build or feuds. No idea who Andrew Everett is. The match started with no ring bell, which isn’t the best way to kick the night off. The X-Division Champion and the local boy botched a move. Tigre botched another move with TJ Perkins/Manik, and Everett followed it up with a sloppy dropkick; does anyone else miss Sabin and Daniels in these matches?
After some typical X-Division wrestling, DJ Z got the crowd to light up with an amazing (lots of air) suicide dive to the outside, which the cameraman missed entirely; all you saw was DJ Z fly off-screen. Everett followed up with a picture perfect springboard shooting star press to the outside, which was the first of two moves he impressed me with. The second move was a 630 Senton, which I ain’t seen in TNA since Jack Evans a couple of years back. Tigre Uno barely managed to deliver a 450 splash to DJ Z, from the turnbuckle to the floor.
The wrestlers fought to climb the structure to the ropes. Everett walked the ropes while holding on to the structure by his hands. Sadly, no one climbed to the top of the structure like Daniels, or AJ, or any other former X-Division guys who dared to try. Everett took forever figurring out how to get down to the title, and by the time he did, Tigre was there to kick him off and retain the title.
Apparently Tigre seperated his shoulder during, so major props to him if he was able to navigate the ropes and finish the match with an injury. Gregory Helms made a surprise appearance, with Dinero referencing “hurricanes”, which was probably why Helms was there. Hellms congratulated Tigre in a confusing show of respect. Uno’s one of the most forgettable X-Division champions of all time, but he sells masks so I guess they sent Helms out to put him over? I guess?
While the match served its purpose, it had no meaning (aside from it being for the title), a few botches occurred, and I’ve seen much more exciting Ultimate X, so I can only rate it Average. When will TNA do the right thing and make the X-Division relevant again?
Match #2 – 12-man Bound for Gold Gauntlet match for a future championship match of their choice, including Abyss, Aiden O’Shea, Al Snow, Chris Melendez, D’Angelo Dinero, Eli Drake, Jessie Godderz, Mahabali Shera, Mr. Anderson, Robbie E, Tommy Dreamer and Tyrus – Match Length: (24:30)
Dammit TNA, your biggest event of the year, and there was no Bound For Glory series (which I thought was a good concept), and there was no mention of this gauntlet. I blame all the months of TV tapings limiting the way they book Impact Wrestling and PPVs.
So just to clarify what the match is, it’s a Royal Rumble, with each man needing to be thrown over the top rope to the outside, and the last two men can win by pin-fall, submission, or eliminating their opponent over the top rope. The winner can choose to challenge for any title, and Josh assumed most wrestlers would challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship.
But before the match began, EC3 decided to make his presence known by cutting a time wasting promo on the entrance ramp. He reminded us what Drew, Matt and himself were fighting for, then he asked if they were in North Carolina. He ended the EPIC (sarcasm) promo by saying, unenthusiastically, “Woo”. Hmm, I wonder who he was referring to.
Mr. Anderson was the first man to enter, Christy Hemme announced him, but he wanted to announce himself. Only problem was, his microphone didn’t lower, so he had to enter the ring and pick up a regular microphone so he could introduce himself. Out of all the events of the year, Anderson doesn’t have his mic ready at Bound For Glory? Who the hell is running this show?
Jessie “The Man” Godderz made his entrance with a robe .. hmmm, I wonder, who else referred to himself as “The Man” and wore fancy robes to the ring? If I could only remember his name, that’s going to bug the hell out of me.
I enjoyed the first part of the match with Anderson and Jessie, as Anderson played around with Jessie and the comic relief gave me something to laugh at. Eli Drake came out next, and Josh Matthews/Dinero spent a great deal of time putting the dude over. Not sure if anyone noticed, but the timer for each entrant was way off, and Christy stopped counting down as well (she was way off compared to the timer), so no one had a clue who was coming out when. How difficult is it to set up a timer?
Al Snow entered to possibly the BIGGEST OVATION of the night, and yeah, I’ve seen Al Snow wrestle lately, he hasn’t lost it, in fact I think he’s better now than he was in his WWF days, and yes, he brought Head. Aiden O’Shea made his “debut” (It’s Jay Bradley dressed up as an Irishmen, sporting a cigar), so I guess TNA might actually use Bradley now he has a gimmick. Remember Eli Drake? The guy Josh and Pope praised earlier? Well, he was eliminated first by Head. Why bother putting him over if he’s going out first?
Mahabalabhabi Shera (can’t they just call him Shera?) entered and immediately started doing the “Shera I look dumb doing this shuffle”, trying to get other wrestlers to join in. Does this guy want to be a champion, or is he only here to dance? God knows, but the other wrestlers joined in (during a match of general importance with something to fight for), and even Aiden O’Shea joined in, for a brief second, until he lunged at Shera and punched him square in the face; thanks Jay Bradley/Aiden O’Shea! Sadly Shera eliminated O’Shea shortly after.
Trouble trouble trouble trouble trouble trouble trouble … trouble trouble trouble … Tyrus entered, and while Josh agreed the wrestlers should gang up and eliminate him fast, they simply didn’t think of it. Chris Melendez entered next, and he was using his prosthetic leg to deliver some big boots.
Tyrus dumped Al Snow (the fans didn’t like that), Melendez, and Shera in quick succession. If I was a wrestler in this match, I would be doing a Dolph Ziggler and gathering the troops to take Tyrus out.
TOMMY DREAMER entered wearing yellow polka dots to a nice ovation, and the “ECW” chants could be heard as Dreamer went full Dusty Rhodes mode with dusty punches and dusty elbows. Abyss entered the fray, and immediately chokeslammed Robbie E (can’t remember when Robbie entered, but does anyone really care?), which was followed up by the two biggest men in TNA Wrestling, Abyss and Tyrus, getting locked into a vicious stare down for the ages.
Abyss entered, then Pope was all like .. “yeah, it’s my time daddy”, even though he was clearly messing with the rules of the match by entering himself so soon after Abyss. The Pope’s music played (which I missed, as I was always a fan of the Pope), and Dinero entered the ring while Abyss & Tyrus continued their stare down.
Anyone with at least two brain cells could tell it was the absolute worst time for Pope to enter. Just to sell how monstrous the stare down was, Pope danced in the ring, and Abyss/Tyrus noticed and stared at Pope instead, Pope noticed and quickly eliminated himself so he could carry Josh Matthews on commentary once again … daddy.
So instead of the two monsters fighting it out, Abyss turned to Dreamer and gave him a black hole slam. Tyrus hit Abyss from behind and eliminated him with a clothesline .. so much for “The Monster”. Now, in any match with logic, all the remaining wrestlers would have turned on Tyrus, but no, they just let him carry on with whatever. Godderz eliminated Robbie, Anderson eliminated Dreamer (some boo’s for that), which left the original two of Anderson and Godderz with Tyrus.
And then yeah, Anderson simply didn’t think to team with Jessie to get Tyrus out, and eliminated Jessie. Tyrus and Anderson fought for a while, as Tyrus got some near pin-falls, and Tyrus finished him with a massive dinosaur-sized punch to the face.
EC3 immediately came down to congratulate his buddy, and assumed Tyrus would use his victory to give them a tag team title shot. Tyrus had other ideas, as the big man told everyone he was tired (yes, he looked really blown up), and he’d worked hard to get an opportunity for himself, so he told EC3 he would challenge for the “Heavyweight .. World Championship Of The WORLD!”. Dammit Tyrus, you can’t dance, and you can’t use a mic either, just stand there and look pretty in future.
Once again, no buildup, no inventive eliminations, no amazing ending, and all the pops went to Al Snow and Dreamer. So just like the previous match, it served the purpose of putting Tyrus over (despite his huge string of losses since his TNA debut), but it was nothing new or special, and the match was neither good or terrible, so I guess it was Average. It showed possible dissension between EC3 and his bodyguard, which could have been an interesting match in the future, but the events later in the night may have put an end to it.
Match #3 – The Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) (c) vs. Brian Myers and Trevor Lee for the TNA World Tag Team Championship – Match Length: (11:24)
Yay, good match incoming. You can’t go wrong with The Wolves, they always deliver no matter who they’re facing, and luckily Brian Myers (AKA Curt Hawkins) and Trevor Lee (Hardy Boyz biggest fan) are no slouches.
I’m already missing the best-of-5 series between The Wolves and The Dirty Heels, and it looks like The Wolves have no serious competition once again; why is it so difficult to find a real tag team to feud with Richards & Edwards over the titles for several months?
The one thing which annoyed me was the repeated praise of Trevor Lee by Josh and Pope. I could deal with them telling us Trevor Lee’s dad was one of the founders of OMEGA (with Matt Hardy), and how Trevor Lee grew up in North Carolina idolizing the Hardy Boyz, but they spent half of the match praising Lee. And did you know? Trevor Lee is an amazing athlete. Also Trevor Lee has a beard so he appears more grown up. Yep.
So the match itself, Myers & Lee cut the ring in half and executed a game plan to reclaim the tag team titles. Luckily, this match made a lot of sense, and the crowd eventually started a “Let’s Go Wolves” chant. Plenty of action in this one, all four men worked hard to deliver a solid contest.
The highest point of was the incredibly obvious double suicide dive, which the fans were seriously anticipating, and The Wolves reveled in the appreciation as they hit the classic double suicide dive. Wolves finished things off with a Brainbuster & Superkick combination, and that’s all she wrote. The Wolves celebrated with their titles, and I sat there wondering if The Wolves will have serious competition in the future.
Considering it was far better than the first two matches, and all four wrestlers played their part with no serious mistakes, I’ll rate this Very Good. The Wolves remain an asset to TNA Wrestling, and until they find two seriously bad dudes to rival them, they will continue their dominance. The Wolves need serious competition.
Match #4 – Bobby Roode (c) vs. Lashley for the TNA King of the Mountain Championship – Match Length: (14:17)
Before this, Drew Galloway had a backstage interview with Jeremy Borash. He told the fans he was “Wrestling’s Chosen One”, which is a small dig at his “Chosen One” gimmick in WWE, and ended it by saying he was going to “kill himself” to do what it takes to win the World Championship. Is talk of suicide acceptable in a promo? You decide.
Fans will say “Why is the King of the Mountain Championship not defended in a King of the Mountain match?”, and I can see why they do, because if you’re going to name a title after a match, you should consider defending it in that match, but then you wouldn’t get decent singles matches to emphasize the importance, and too many King of the Mountain matches would take away from the concept.
In a short time, Bobby Roode has sold this newly named championship as a “wrestler’s championship”, a title which represents excellence in professional wrestling. Thanks Roode, someone had to make this championship of many names mean something. Lashley wasn’t doing anything for BFG 2015, so he answered Roode’s open challenge and respectfully challenged him to a match.
To be honest, we already saw Roode vs Lashley this year for the World Heavyweight Championship, and at least on those occasions TNA defined who was the heel, and who was the babyface. This time, both men were playing babyface, so it was difficult to side with either. While I absolutely respect the ability of Roode, Lashley doesn’t quite match his wrestling ability, so it’s always Roode carrying things, and I can only get invested in Roode matches when he’s feuding, because that’s what he does best.
I remember lots of vertical suplex, and the crowd remaining quiet. Ten minutes in, the spear and the Roode bomb were used, and they felt more like regular moves. Roode delivered a crossface shortly after, despite zero work being done on Lashley for it be effective. And then the match entered Steve Austin vs The Rock mode, as Lashley stole the Roode Bomb, Roode stole the Spear, and the fans mildly chanted “This is awesome”. So both men went for their own finishers again, Lashley went for an arm hold again, but Roode simply out-wrestled Lashley and delivered the Roode bomb for the win. Lashley showed his respect and shook his hand afterwards.
While the fans showed interest in the match (especially after the stolen finishers) I had no interest. I found it difficult to remain focused on the heatless exchange. it was just a standard wrestling match with too many finishers, and you could tell Roode was held back by the lack of Lashley’s wrestling ability.
By this point the dead crowd was even more apparent. Why can’t TNA take their major events to venues with boisterous fans? Why not hold BFG in the UK where the fans actually appreciate TNA and get excited for it? Why have the venue in North Carolina, a side of American which has seen so much wrestling over the decades. It kills my head thinking about it, you really need to attract the loud fans who will sell your product, not the quiet family fans who happily sit there in silence.
The match was thrown together at the last-minute and it showed, so while the match was “Very Good”, at least to the fans in attendance and in other reviews, I’m going to rate it as Good. You may disagree with me if you like, that’s fine, I’ll accept that, but to me it was just a match to get Roode and Lashley on the card and nothing more. I’ll tip my invisible hat to Roode and Lashley for working with what they were given.
Match #5 – Gail Kim (c) vs. Awesome Kong for the TNA Knockouts Championship – Match Length: (10:05)
Following Roode and Lashley, Matt Hardy cut a backstage promo with Borash, which if you watch this after the event, you will tell that Matt was overly confident, like he knew he was going to win .. damn kayfabe. Honestly, I cannot remember Matt Hardy being so psyched for a match in his life, so he did a good job of selling, and telegraphing the main events result.
Next, Billy Corgan appeared and fluffed his one line, corrected himself with a smile, then introduced the newest TNA Hall Of Famer Earl Hebner. Why didn’t they induct Earl at Bound For Glory instead of a house show? The funny part about this was the video package, which could only show TNA footage of Earl, and personal pictures of him with Steve Austin and other WWE legends.
A blurred image of Earl raising Shawn Michaels arm (1996?) was shown, because the majority of Hebner’s career was in WWF/E. Earl is the perfect example of someone who haphazardly does their job for 67,000 years (exaggerating) and gets recognition just because no other guy has done the job as long. I’m only kidding, it’s nice to see the spotlight and someone else for a change.
Ok, so Kong vs Kim was one match I was looking forward to, but even that match had no build aside from the matches they had years ago. So Kim and Kong went at it for a while, until Kim tried for a hurricanrana and failed. Kong splashed Kim from the turnbuckle for a two-count; any other Knockout would have lost right there. Kong got frustrated far too easily and started looking for steel chairs in a regular match. Kim’s husband, Robert Irvine, took a chair from Kong and told Hebner to “do his job”. What’s the point? Does Gail Kim seriously need Irvine’s help? And does Hebner need to be abused? He never does his job right.
Unluckily for Kim, her husbands interference backfired and Kong dumped her on some chairs. Later in the match, Kim tried attacking Kong in the corner of the ring, Kong grabbed Kim by the throat as she stood on the second rope, and Kim used her smarts to convert that into an Eat Defeat. The monster known as Awesome Kong lost the match from one Eat Defeat, and that’s about it. Kong needed to be full-blown heel for this, you can’t sell Kong without her being notoriously bad and disrespectful to everyone, and Kong lost due to her respect for Kim.
So just like Roode vs Lashley, there was barely any build for it, and both were working as babyfaces, so you had to pick a side and go from there. Kong’s had zero momentum since she buried Havok in a cage match several months ago, so I didn’t expect a title change, and that’s what we got. So while the women put on a match, it was seriously underwhelming compared to their previous encounters, and the unnecessary interference by Irvine means I can only rate it as Average.
Match #6 – Kurt Angle vs. Eric Young in a No Disqualification match – Match Length: (13:10)
Whenever I read Kurt Angle’s Facebook page, all I see is “PLEASE KURT GO BACK TO WWE!!!” on every single post, and it just pisses me off. Respect Angle’s decisions, stop being selfish and respect the man wherever he decides to work. He’s worked for TNA longer than he worked for WWE, so he’s a TNA guy, so get over it.
Angle was TNA World Champion before his surgery on the tumor on his neck. Once again, the match was thrown out there at the last-minute, but at least EY’s definitely a heel, and EY feuded with Angle before he was sidelined, making it the most personal feud of the show. Before the participants made their way to the ring, Christy Hemme announced the next match was “No Disqualification”, which was right .. but yeah, you’ll see why this was a botch in a minute.
EY got on the microphone before the match could begin, and in entertaining fashion, claimed he was “GOD”; I just can’t get enough of EY’s heel persona. Angle got on the mic and put EY over a little, before saying the match was now a No DQ match, and despite Christy’s prior announcement, EY was pissed off at the sudden change.
Early on in the bout, EY delivered a mean piledriver on Angle, which forced Angle to clutch his neck in pain and roll to the outside. Medical staff appeared, and the doctor told the ref Angle could not continue. EY took exception to this and attacked the medical staff and referees (love it, EY is one of the best heels around), and carried on with his beating of Angle. The commentary team were disgusted with EY, but seriously, if Angle had re-injured his neck for real, there’s no way EY would be continuing.
So the action spilled to the outside, and EY exposed the concrete. The fans in the front row started chanting “USE THE SHIELD!”, as some dude wearing a Captain America outfit had a shield and was clearly reaching out so they could use it. Sadly, both wrestlers ignored the fans cry for shield interference, and Kurt reversed a piledriver into a German suplex. Pope went nuts, saying it was a miracle he was able to do that with his neck. Angle continued to sell his neck injury through three more German suplex and Angle slam.
So EY managed to come back from all that and target Angles neck. He placed his boot on the back of Angles neck and posed, much to the disgust of the commentary team. He stomped on his neck, and delivered a Randy Savage elbow from the top. Young tried to finish Angle off with a piledriver from the turnbuckle, which luckily didn’t happen, as Angle countered it into an anklelock. EY forgot the No DQ stipulation as he reached the ropes and the referee told him he couldn’t do anything. EY struggled, but was inevitably pulled to the center of the ring, and with no hope of escape, Eric Young tapped out.
So the match served its purpose of bringing Kurt back for a night, but it wasn’t as good as it could have been due to the overselling of the neck surgery. I get it, he had surgery, you don’t need to have Angle sell it for half of the match, only to suplex EY around like nothing’s wrong. This was as bad as a Kurt Angle match can be, but at least the hatred shown by Eric Young added to the story, so I will rate it as Good, nothing more, nothing less.
Match #7 – Ethan Carter III (c) vs. Drew Galloway vs. Matt Hardy for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, with Jeff Hardy as the special guest referee – Match Length: (20:04)
A video package aired highlighting the build for the triple-threat, but just like Slammiversary, the event had audio issues so they cut the video early. Josh Matthews apologized for the technical difficulties. Jeff Hardy appeared and received a warmer reception than any of the competitors, and he was dressed for the part with a referee shirt paired with black & white striped face paint.
They made their entrances and Borash made the official main event announcements, which I always enjoy. The match started and Matt Hardy immediately coaxed Jeff into ejecting Tyrus from the ringside area, which Tyrus could have ignored (no-DQ rules), but chose to walk out instead.
Drew & Matt attacked EC3 and took it in turns to dish out offense. They stomped EC3 down in the corner like heels until he fell to the outside. Drew and Matt fought each other for a while, until EC3 returned to deliver sweet dropkicks on both men. Further into the match, EC3 tried to piledriver Drew on the steel steps, but Drew reversed it and dropped EC3 on the steps; the fans chanted “holy shit”.
The fighting continued on the outside, and Drew nailed Matt with his leg from a sick dive over the ropes to the outside. EC3 introduced a table and set it up on the outside. Back in the ring, Matt hit a DDT and Reverse DDT combo on EC3 and Drew. Matt tried placing Drew on top of EC3, but Drew moved and laid on top of EC3 while Matt climbed the turnbuckle’ Jeff did not count the pin.
Matt nailed Drew and EC3 with the moonsault, and Matt covered both men for a 2-count. Matt set EC3 up for the Twist of Fate. EC3 shoved Matt into Jeff, and Matt was able to counter EC3 with a Side Effect. Matt went the pin but Jeff was down. but Jeff soon recovered during a backslide and counted fast for EC3. Drew delivered the Future Shock DDT to Matt, then EC3 tossed him out and covered Matt, Jeff made a fair count of 2, and EC3 got in his face to complain.
EC3 found Drew on the outside and banged his head off the table, he placed Drew on the table. EC3 found Matt recovering on the ropes and suplexed him over the ring ropes, to the outside, through Drew and the table. Nice spot. The fans appreciated it as well. EC3 tried to cover Matt again, picking up 2. EC3 slowly set Matt up for the One Percenter, Drew quickly entered the ring and nailed Drew with a flurry of punches and chops. Matt surprised Drew with a clothesline, then Matt hit his second combo, a bulldog and clothesline on Drew and EC3.
Matt went to the top and was straddled on the turnbuckle by Drew, then both men fought on the turnbuckle together, Drew fell into the tree of woe, and Matt held him in place while EC3 chopped. EC3 tried to suplex Matt off the turnbuckle, then Drew recovered and threw EC3 and Matt into a German Superplex (mix of German suplex and Superplex). Another nice spot.
All three men recovered and chopped each other til EC3 fell, Drew and Matt slugged it out, then EC3 surprised them both with a double One Percenter. EC3 picked up fair two-counts on both men. EC3 became frustrated, pushed Jeff, and told him to throw the match out. Jeff refused so EC3 shoved him again. EC3 tried to get himself disqualified in a match with no rules, by kicking Drew in the balls right in front of Jeff. He told Jeff “DQ!”, so either character was getting desperate, or he forgot the rules.
EC3 picked up a chair from the outside and taunted Jeff. He tried to strike Matt with it, but Jeff stole the chair and told EC3 he wasn’t going to win that way. EC3 punched Jeff in the face, and Jeff retaliated by hitting him with the chair, which seemed to fall apart on impact. Jeff hit the Twist of Fate, and Matt hit the same move on Drew, pinned Drew and won the match to claim the World Championship for the first time.
The North Carolina fans celebrated with Matt, as Reby Sky, his baby son Maxel Hardy. “The Legend” Gilbert Hardy (Jeff & Matt’s father), and Jeff joined in. EC3 was furious and stormed out. The show ended with the family posing for photos in the ring.
I’ll rate the match as Good, because there were some good spots, but there was a lack of hardcore (for my own personal tastes), and too much time spent on exchanges between Jeff and EC3. Drew was an afterthought, which was odd, as I figured if anyone was going to take the title off EC3, it would be him. The feud originally centered around EC3 and Drew, and Matt was placed in the match on the previous episode of Impact by winning a tag team contest. Matt already had a title shot at Full Metal Mayhem and lost clean to EC3 with no interference, so it seems obvious the only reason Matt was slotted in was because of the location.
The booking is questionable, and it only tells me that TNA wanted to make a “feel good” moment as a reward to the Hardy Boyz for being loyal to TNA. Also Matt is slowing down, so I understand he wanted one more defining moment, but it came at the expense of EC3 and Drew, who essentially represent the talent in their primes.
Another thing which irked me, was the handling of EC3, who was supposed to be a dominant champion, reduced to desperation as Dixie Carter and The Hardys stacked the deck against him. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Shouldn’t EC3 be the one to stack the deck so the fans can get behind Drew and Matt? With the deck stacked so heavily in Matt’s favour, it’s a hollow victory, and his age and recent talk of retirement and nagging injuries makes you wonder why TNA doesn’t do more to build their shows so these moments can be received in the way they hope for.
Conclusion – It’s a tough one to rate. Simply put, the event hinges on how much you appreciate wrestling matches with little build or meaning behind them. It also hopes you don’t become annoyed at audio difficulties and a dead crowd. Everything about the event is a step back in comparison to a few years ago, when Bound For Glory delivered something different to what you see each week on Impact. I remember when TNA planned months ahead of time, and built feuds gradually.
With the excessive TP tapings, future episodes were taped before Bound For Glory, meaning TNA had to fill in the blanks. The only title change was the World title, but (SPOILERS) the next episode of Impact will clear that up. Nothing could change at Bound For Glory 2015 because they had to stay within the timeline of events, and the event suffered just like the previous years.
Until TNA stops taping months of TV in advance, PPV events will suffer. Why would anyone be invested in an event which guarantees no actual title changes? I will say one good thing though, every match on the card was given sufficient time, and there were no Bad matches.
The basic consensus would rate this event to be fairly Good, to fans who simply enjoy wrestling. Average if you expected a little more entertainment, production, and surprises (Absolutely TERRIBLE if you hate TNA). The ending is a mixed bag, with Matt deserving a moment to shine after all of his years in the business, but only doing so after a short stint as a singles wrestler (following Jeff’s injury) at the expense of an unpinned EC3, and an exceptionally hungry Drew Galloway.
Initially I was disappointed with the results, but after a second watch I saw the matches were of decent quality, so the talent did everything they were asked, so I’m sure many will blame TNA for the booking, but I’m just going to move on and accept that Matt had his moment, so I can only hope the company can find a direction and stick with it in future. How would you rate the event overall? Thanks for reading.