TNA Bound for Glory 2011 Recap

 


 

John: I’m here to recap TNA Bound for Glory 2011 with TJR’s regular TNA recapper Marc B. We’ll go over every match and key segment on the show as well as a score out of ten to wrap it up.

Marc: Last night, TNA gave us it’s version of Wrestlemania. Did it disappoint? Let’s find out.

John: Nice video package to start. Their videos may not be as good as WWE, but they are damn close. The crowd is bigger than your regular TNA crowd. I read that there were about 2,500 people in the building with a lot of free tickets handed out. The side where the hard cameras were had mostly empty seats.

X Division Title: Austin Aries d. Brian Kendrick
John: A very entertaining match that was a good choice for the opener. The problem was that Aries got all the cheers while Kendrick barely got a reaction probably because his gimmick doesn’t really endear him to any type of fan except maybe stoners. The problem with that is the stoners are too high to react to anything. I’m assuming Aries was over big because there were a lot of ROH fans there. There were some cool spots here like Kendrick’s Sliced Bread #2 off the top rope for a great nearfall. Aries won with the brainbuster. Aries does all the little things to keep a match interesting. He reminds me of the 1997-1998 version of Chris Jericho in WCW. They need to do a good job of building up X-Division babyfaces because right now Aries is a class above them. (***1/4)

Marc: This was probably the best way to start the PPV, even if it means that Aries has to be in the first match. The Philly crowd really ate up anything that these guys did, and given the fact that these two guys can really work hard, and they did, the crowd was really into the match. There were the usual high spots one would expect from the X-division, but it was far from a spotfest. Aries won with his brainbuster in a ten minute match that probably should have been given more time. Not really complaining though. Match Rating: ***

John: They had some skit backstage with Karen Jarrett, her kids & Traci Brooks spending time with the kids. She asked the kids to leave and then told Traci that she (Karen) would referee the Knockouts match while Traci would stay in the back unless Karen is in trouble. Karen annoys me not in the good heel way. It’s the go away type of heel heat.

Marc: Backstage, there was a segment where Karen Jarrett named herself the guest referee for the Knockouts Championship match later on. She told Traci not to come down to ringside unless Karen was in harm’s way. Foreshadow much?

Full Metal Mayhem: Rob Van Dam d. Jerry Lynn
John: This was a fun nostalgia match although they are clearly not the workers they were back in 1999 when this was a hot feud in ECW that gave us a lot of memorable matches. I’m impressed by how much Lynn can still do at the age of 48 while RVD looks like he actually gave a shit, which is not something you can say about him during his TNA run. The fans were into the match, they did some crazy bumps that had me cringing a bit and RVD finished it off with the Van Terminator, which is still one of the most impressive wrestling moves I’ve ever seen. I remember when he debuted that move. Then Shane McMahon stole it. Anyway, the crowd loved the finish. RVD was very over. (**1/2)

Marc: This match was specifically for the Philly crowd, as a couple of times there was an ECW chant. The fact that weapons were legal made the match better than it should have been, but RVD still looks like he doesn’t care that much. The match went 14 minutes, and like Taz and Tenay kept mentioning, it was nothing you haven’t seen before. RVD won, and after the match, he and Jerry Lynn shook hands and celebrated for the crowd. I don’t understand that at all. Why bother building the feud the way they did, if the end result was going to be the two of them raising each other’s arms in victory? Shouldn’t they have just done a variation of “Good Friends, Better Enemies?” That would have made a little more sense. Match Rating: ** ½

Crimson d. Samoa Joe & Matt Morgan
John: It only went about 7 minutes, the crowd hated Crimson, didn’t like Morgan and cheered Joe most likely because of his ROH roots. I bet that confused some fans watching at home because Crimson obviously is supposed to be the rising babyface. There was even a brief “Goldberg” chant for Crimson although not that loud. I was impressed by Morgan leaping off the top rope onto Crimson on the floor. For a 7 footer that’s pretty damn cool. Crimson ended up winning with a spear on Joe. Very anticlimactic although not a surprise since Joe is the Angry Jobber heel in TNA now. What a waste of his tremendous talents. (*1/4)

Marc: Man, the crowd was pretty dead for this one. It’s like it had a predictable outcome or something. There was no doubt in my mind that Crimson would win this match, but they did it in the least convincing way possible. They story was terrible as well. Crimson and Morgan are best friends? When the hell did this happen? Whatever. Oh, and Samoa Joe should just pack up and leave. It’s obvious they don’t want him here. Crimson won, of course. I do see him as the future, but he needs a convincing feud, or he will just be another guy.
Match Rating: * ½

John: Loved the promo by Bully Ray prior to his match. It was great. I hope he’s teaching people how to cut promos at his wrestling school because he’s really one of the better ones in the business right now.

Marc: Backstage, Bully Ray cut a really great heel promo. Since he would probably be cheered for his match, he ripped the Philly crowd and told them he was exploiting them for the last 15 years. This guy can draw heat, and that is a fact. The crowd really ate it all up. He ended it by saying “Screw you, and screw Philadelphia. I’m Bully Ray and I’m from New York City.” That’s how you get a crowd to hate you. That promo set up for our next match.

Philly Street Fight: Ken Anderson d. Bully Ray
John: It was a physical brawl. Anderson has new hair, which really doesn’t suit him. I’m shocked that this wasn’t filled with run-ins from Immortal guys helping Ray while Abyss helped Anderson. Instead it stayed a singles match with a lot of weapons being used. It was falls count anywhere, so they took the action backstage a bit, which usually kills a crowd. They came back into the arena, continued to trade off on the big spots and Ray hit his Bubba Bomb on Anderson through a table. Anderson kicked out. They went outside, Anderson beat him up with a trashcan, Ray gently lay on a table and Anderson slowly went up top. The finish was supposed to be a Senton through the table. He overshot him. Missed it completely. Fans booed. Then they improvised the finish with the Mic Check through the table for the win for Anderson. The finish fell flat a bit, but they worked hard and had a decent match. (**1/2)

Marc: This match was another one of those “way better than it should have been” types. The story was that Bully and Anderson didn’t like each other when Anderson Joined Immortal, which led to Anderson being thrown out of Immortal, and taking some time off before extracting revenge in a humvee. You know what? I really believed that these two guys hated each other. They really fucked each other up, which is basically the point of this type of match. At one point, Anderson grabbed a sign from the crowd that said “Welcome to Philly, Asshole.” He brought it into the ring, held it up for the crowd to see, and then hit Bully Ray with it. Turns out, it was really a street sign. Raven just rolled over in his grave. He’s not dead? Well, then he rolled over in the grave of his career. One thing that impressed me about Bully Ray: He is willing to put his body on the line. He’s nuts. Maybe it’s all the unprotected shots to the head he’s taken over the years. Anderson won with the Mic Check through a table after initially botching the finish. It was a really nicely done brawl, and it was good to see the pin take place outside the ring. Match Rating: ***

John: Backstage, the “camera behind a window” shot Eric Bischoff talking to referee Jackson James about being on his side for the Hogan/Sting match. It was revealed that Jackson is actually Bischoff’s son. That is true. I’m surprised it took this long to use it in an angle. The announcers were shocked at this news. Will Bischoff be mad on Impact next week when he finds out somebody filmed this? Nah, because nobody actually watches the PPVs in TNA. But you already knew that.

Marc: Backstage, Bischoff is talking to Referee Jackson James. In one of the most anti-climactic reveals, they acknowledge that they are father and son. They tried to make it sound like James had been helping Immortal all along, but since, you know, there hasn’t been any type of “Nick Patrick” refereeing, the whole thing fell flat. Bischoff wanted to make sure that James helped make sure that they would be rid of Sting. Taz and Tenay were hysterical selling their surprise.

Knockouts Title: Velvet Sky d. Winter, Mickie James & Madison Rayne
John: This was an overbooked match with too many angles going on at once. Karen Jarrett was the guest ref and did her part to steal the attention from the other girls. It had Four Corners rules so two women would wrestle while the other two were standing on the apron. Whenever the babyface girls like Mickie or Velvet tried to do anything, Karen was against it. Then predictably Angelina tried to help Winter, it backfired, the red “blood” went into Karen’s face via Winter spit, Traci Brooks bounced out, Velvet hit her Pedigree like maneuver (with legs spread out) and Brooks counted the pin as Sky won the Knockouts Title for the first time. It didn’t feel like a special moment because a 4 woman match involved 7 women in total. Slow down! What a mess. And I don’t mean Karen receiving a liquid substance in the face. She’s likely a pro at that. See TNA writers, I can write slut jokes too. Amazing. (*)

Marc: I have to admit, Karen Jarrett is the hottest referee I have seen in awhile. As I have said before, the Knockouts division is everything the Divas division should be: Hot women who know how to wrestle. All four of these women put on a nice match, and was entertaining as well. The main storyline in the match was that Karen did not want to see Velvet win the title, so she wouldn’t count any of Velvet’s near falls. The ending came when Winter went to spit something into Velvet’s face, but it Karen instead. As Karen lay on the floor of the ring, covering her eyes, Velvet hit her finisher on Madison Rayne to win her first ever Knockouts Title. It was a good match, and it was nice to see a woman wrestler actually execute a running bulldog properly. Match rating: **

John: Backstage, JB talked to Kazarian about his buddies being on the card. He said some generic stuff. Nothing exciting here.

Marc: Backstage, Kaz was interviewed and said he’s really happy for Bobby Roode, but he’s torn between AJ and Daniels.

I Quit Match: AJ Styles d. Daniels
John: They’ve had a number of four star level matches together over the years. This was not one of them. It was more of a storyline than it was a match. They traded control early on, but then heel Daniels took over, put a chair over Styles throat and talked trash to him. That killed the crowd. Then he turned to the hard camera and told Wendy (AJ’s wife) to put the kids to bed because he didn’t want them to see him “murder their dad in cold blood.” Yes, he actually said this on a wrestling show. Who does that help? What does that get over? That Daniels is nuts? It’s a little much. Styles fought back, hit the Pele Kick and the Styles Clash to come back. Then he picked up a screwdriver that Daniels brought into the match earlier. Remember the Simpsons episode where they watch wrestling & make fun of a wrench being used as a weapon? The screwdriver was kinda like that. Before he could attack him with it, Daniels begged him not to hurt him and said “I Quit.” The crowd booed because the finish sucked so much. After the match, Daniels ran away, Styles celebrated, they showed replays and when Styles made it to the top of the ramp, Daniels attacked and gave him the Angel’s Wings by the entrance way. Like a crazy man, Daniels said that AJ never beat him. I guess we’ll see more of this feud. In six months when Daniels turns face again be sure to forget about the line where he said he’d murder AJ in cold blood. That’s TNA for ya. (**)

Marc: This match turned out to be the turning point of what was a pretty good show so far, and I don’t mean that in a good way. The match was going along nicely, with some stellar work, and a sick looking BME to the back of Styles while Styles was kneeling in the ring. Then, Daniels takes a chair and places it over the neck of AJ, and tells AJ he’s going to kill him. Yep. Kill him. If you think I’m just pulling your leg, then here is what Daniels said: “Wendy, it’s time to take the kids out of the room, because they shouldn’t see their father get murdered in cold blood.” This killed the match for me. I had no interest left. For the record though, Styles came to life after that, hit The Clash on Daniels and went after Daniels with a screwdriver that was brought into the ring earlier. As Styles approached, Daniels quit and ran out of the ring. Yawn. What a letdown. As Styles was walking up the ramp, Daniels attacked him and said that Styles never beat him. It was pretty funny, but I have lost interest in seeing them wrestle again.
Match Rating: *

John: Jeff Jarrett called out Jeff Hardy. He did not have a coffee cup with drugs in it. Too soon? He basically said that they don’t want him in TNA and he called Hardy a bitch. Hardy came out looking sober, which is new for a 2011 TNA PPV, and brawled with Jarrett. The inept security guys tried to break it up. They kept fighting. It was a typical wrestling brawl. The crowd wasn’t too hot for it, or as much as you might think. The fans were chanting “D-Lo” because they saw D-Lo Brown as one of the guys trying to break it up. There was also a “Head” chant because Al Snow was there too. Obviously this is leading to a PPV match for Hardy to begin a run as a babyface main eventer by beating a hated heel like Jarrett. It was fine, but I’m surprised Hardy wasn’t more over.

Marc: Then Jeff Jarrett showed up. Fuck, fuck, fuck….Why? Oh right. He started a program with Jeff Hardy last week on Impact, and he’s here now to call him out. Out comes Hardy to a new awful song that made me wish he had his old awful song. His video background was terrible too. TNA knows it’s 2011, right? It looked like it was 16-bit graphics and belonged in the background of an old video game like Streets of Rage. Anyway, Hardy almost immediately attacks Jarrett, and we have our BRAWL FOR NO REASON! And what a long brawl it was as well. All I kept thinking was that they could have made the Aries match longer. And is it any coincidence that the PPV took a turn for the worse the closer it got to Hogan and Sting? It’s almost like TNA knew how bad it was going to be, and decided to prepare the crowd for its upcoming awfulness.

Sting d. Hulk Hogan in a fight
John: I saw a funny line on Twitter where somebody said they gave 110% here because their combined age is 110 (Hogan is 58, Sting is 52). Flair came out, Hogan worked like a heel, there was some blood, it felt like the slowest match ever and Sting ended up winning as Dixie Carter got her company back. Way to put over the young guy, Hulk. Also Bischoff’s son the ref Jackson James reluctantly called for the bell. Post match, Bischoff & Immortal came out. They beat up Sting. Bischoff even hit his son with a chair. Then Sting asked for Hulk to save him. Of course Hulk easily beat up the Immortal jobbers because they are one of the worst stables in the history of wrestling. I can’t believe it’s 2011 and I’m writing about Hulking Up. Dixie must have been marking out in the crowd. The crowd liked it too, which only makes me groan because now Hogan’s going to convince everybody to put the World Title on him. Just watch. It will happen. Does it make any sense that Hogan fought with Sting after trying to tear the company down? Of course not. But that’s Hogan. He’s convinced them that the red & yellow gear will bring back fans even though he’s done nothing for ratings or PPV buyrates. You think many people watching ESPN bought Bound for Glory because of him? No. It’s over. Move on. (NR)

Marc: This was as bad as it could have been. First, Hogan calls out Ric Flair. Really, fucking Flair? I swear, if Warrior came out next I would have A) marked out and B) shot someone. Ok, so it’s one minute later, and there is a rest hold. Yes. One minute. The announcers said Hogan was “methodical” in his actions. That’s because he cannot fucking move! The man can barely walk, and TNA has him in the semi-main event fighting a comic book character knock-off. Brilliant. So this goes way too long, which means it went on at all, and Sting made Hogan tap out. Then Immortal came out, and we have our second BRAWL FOR NO REASON! in as many segments. And then it took a turn for the ridiculous. First, Bischoff attacked his son for stopping Bischoff from hitting Sting with a chair. Then, as Sting was getting beat down, he crawled over to were Hogan, whose face was covered in blood that he reminded me of the vampires in True Blood who cry blood, and asked Hogan to help him. Yes, the man that Sting was just fighting, the man who said he hated Sting, that’s who crazy Old Man Borden asked for help. And in the WTF! Moment of the year, HOGAN TURNED FACE AND ATTACKED IMMORTAL!!! I was truly amazed at this. It was the most illogical, and unmotivated turn I have ever seen, and I have seen Anderson turn face and heel five times this year. But here it was, Hogan and Sting fighting side by fucking side. And to top it off, Hogan got the biggest pop of the night. You know in Hogan’s head, this just justifies everything he has been saying recently. And the whole thing ate up 17 minutes. What a fucking joke. Match Rating: N/A

TNA World Title: Kurt Angle d. Bobby Roode
John: This felt rushed. Instead of the 25-30 minute classic I was expecting they got about 14 minutes. When I saw Angle limping out there I assumed it was because of his hamstring injury. If I was writing this live you would have seen how excited I was for Bobby Roode going into this match. Angle’s a personal favorite, but I was more excited for a hardworker like Roode. Now, the next day all of that excitement has been flushed down the shitter thanks to a creative decision to not put the World Title on a deserving talent like Roode. Angle was clearly hurt here, with a taped up hamstring. You’d think that would be a good reason to not book him to retain the title. Nope. Instead, he survived every one of Roode’s crossface attempts and the crowd that wasn’t partial to one guy. Angle ended up winning following an Angle Slam while Roode’s hand was under the ropes and Angle had his hand on the middle ropes. Yep, that’s right. A screwjob finish ending the biggest PPV of the year in TNA. How many clean main event matches did they have this year? Not a whole lot. I thought maybe they’d be smart enough to have one here. Once again, no. I don’t blame the wrestlers. They worked their ass off and had a solid match considering the limitations on Angle. It left me with a sour taste in my mouth, though. (***)

Marc: After the debacle above, I thought that the only thing that could bring the PPV back to some sensibility would be for Roode to win the title. I thought they would have a good 30 minutes to wrestle as well, but that didn’t happen thanks to the Jarrett/Hardy brawl and the Sting/Hogan joke. What we did get was 15 minutes of a good main event, that is, until the end. Why does TNA feel the need to stay with the status quo? It was set up perfectly, Bobby Roode kicked out of three Angle Slams. He countered the Ankle Lock. He pushed the world champion to his limit, and then….lost when Angle had to cheat to win by holding onto the ropes. Are you fucking kidding me? This was a total waste of Bobby Roode’s time. They built him up the best they could. They made him fight his friends. They made him the best underdog this side of Rey Mysterio and they fucked it all up. All the build, the BFG series, and the video packages – they mean nothing now because this company cannot get out of its own fucking way. There was no reason that Roode should have lost the match. And besides, given the fact that TNA cannot book a clean finish to anything, shouldn’t this have been the match that Jackson James should have refereed? Think about it. James calls for the bell, even though Angle held the ropes and Roode had slid his arm under the ropes as well. Dixie Carter comes out and says that it’s her company again, and that finish will not be acceptable. She calls for another referee, they restart the match, and Roode makes Angle tap to the crossface. The PPV ends with Fortune coming out and lifting Roode up on their shoulders. The crowd goes home happy, and not feeling like they were cheated. What a mess this company is. Match Rating: **

Final Thoughts

John: I give Bound For Glory a 4 out of 10. No great matches. The opener was very good and the main event was good as well, but nothing met expectations in terms of delivering a memorable match.

This did not feel like the biggest show of a company going in the right direction. The Hogan stuff may have popped the crowd because they were clearly WWE & ECW type fans rather than TNA fans. I’ve read this morning on PWInsider.com and heard on F4Wonline.com that Hogan got the finish of the main event changed. It was originally supposed to be Roode winning the title clean. Now I’m guessing that either happens at the next PPV (a month late) or they have Jeff Hardy or Crimson beat Angle for the title. Perhaps even James Storm. I’m not sure. Does it even matter when you book so many screw main event finishes? The value of the title is irrelevant at this point. I might take a month or two off from watching TNA for my own sanity. I’m tired of the same old thing. Aside from watching a few favorites, I need a break from it.

To sum it up, I got every prediction right except the pre-show (Mexican America retained their titles) and the main event. Did you hear Hogan’s pop? I know he did. Since he’s really the booker of the company, I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s “wrestling” again and even less shocked if he’s holding the World Title at some point. That’s how delusional that man is. They had the opportunity to end this show on a high note. They didn’t. How will I remember TNA Bound For Glory 2011? A wasted opportunity by TNA. Again.

John Canton – [email protected]
thejohnreport.net
Twitter @johnreport

Marc: The Bound for Glory PPV name should be changed now to Bound for Disappointment. The whole thing was going along just fine until Daniels threatened to murder his best friend and the whole PPV turned to the shit mess that we have been accustomed to. The Hogan/Sting mess was expected to be bad, but I didn’t think the illogical end was coming. That coupled with the Main Event mess made a good PPV a bad one. I would not recommend anyone to buy the replay based on the last hour. It was just so bad. The booking team doesn’t look any better under the watchful eye of Brother Love, as this PPV seemed like it had the stench of Russo all over it. As I said on twitter to @Impactwrestling, I would love to book for them, but I unfortunately have common sense.

Overall Rating: 3/10 that really should have been a 6/10.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at [email protected], follow me on twitter @FozzieMB, or friend me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/broman106. Thanks for reading!

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