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I would have to say that Bound For Glory was a pretty good show overall. It was not as good as Slammiversary, but may have been as good as Redemption was, when Impact Wrestling began its great turnaround. The brand is a great alternative in a marketplace that is dominated by WWE. And they proved so with a great show tonight.
In this article, I shall list down the best and worst from this pay-per-view. Yes, as good as the show was, it certainly was not without its fair share of faults. I could even say that fans expected a better show than they eventually received.
Here is my analysis of what went down in New York City. Please leave a comment and let me know what you thought about the show as well.
I would love to hear your views and thoughts about Bound For Glory.
#1 Best: New Champion
Neither Austin Aries nor Johnny Impact is a young man anymore. However, when they stepped into the ring to perform at the biggest show of the year for Impact Wrestling, they left it all in the ring. I daresay that Aries was a great Champion, segueing from a babyface to a heel character almost seamlessly during his tenure. However, it felt like it was time for a change, and Johnny Impact is your brand new Champion of the world right now.
I loved how both men had made the war personal leading up to the match. From Twitter to press conferences, both men blurred the line between reality and professional wrestling, leading to a big fight feel. The crowd was hot for both men.
Some of the stuff that Impact did in the ring was incredible. I did not know it was humanly possible to perform such feats.
As for Aries, the dive on to Taya Valkyrie was a great heat spot.
#1 Worst: What happened after the match
Johnny Impact won the match by delivering his finisher- Starship Pain, on to Austin Aries. And then Austin Aries took the pin, got up, flipped the announcers and walked to the back, no selling the finish. It was a tragic end to what had been a great match until that point. There's no way to know if this was a work or not, but I thought this was a pretty ugly moment.
If this was a work, it was certainly believable. I wonder if Impact Wrestling is trying to capitalize on the hype of Conor vs. Khabib by booking a post-match angle that overshadowed the actual match. It could potentially play on to the television tapings in the coming weeks.
Whatever the case may be, this angle made the match feel phony. It was a tragedy that such a good match ended on such a bitter note. And therefore, I will list it as a worst.
#2 Best: Into the realm of the undead
At some point during this match, I realized just how much I'd missed Rosemary as a performer on the show. As cool as the other Knockouts are (more on that later), I genuinely popped when Rosemary showed up to challenge Su Yung and have that little magic battle. It was a break from the action in the ring, and I thought this was a welcome change.
As for the match itself, it really wasn't a match but a journey into the very depths of hell for Allie, to save her best friend. This felt like an angle from Lucha Underground, and I think it was executed quite well. In fact, this is what the Orton-Wyatt 'House of Horrors' match should have been.
It does seem like Jimmy Jacobs was behind this angle and so, full props to him. The creative changes he's brought to the table are definitely showing.
#2 Worst: Ellsworth, not Chris Jericho
All of the Internet Wrestling Community expected Chris Jericho to show up at Bound For Glory. They wanted to see the dream face-off between Jericho and Eli Drake. Imagine the war of words that would have happened, had that taken place.
Instead, it was James Ellsworth who showed up to answer Drake's challenge. While the few lines he recited about dating Carmella and therefore being a New Yorker were funny, it just felt like Impact Wrestling went a little overboard with the Chris Jericho promotion ahead of the show, building up expectations for their fans. Those who ordered the pay-per-view, myself included, cannot help but feel a little disappointed.
I was glad to see the crowd rally behind Eli Drake and not Ellsworth, because Drake deserved a better program than the one he got. I must admit that the bit with Abyss was good, but having Jericho on the card would have been special.
#3 Best: Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie
It has been firmly established that Tessa Blanchard is the best Knockout in the division. But she's so very good that she's never had the right dance partner who can have the matches that Blanchard can potentially have. Enter Taya Valkyrie, who in my opinion, was Blanchard's best opponent thus far. I thought that the two women had a great match that told a fantastic story in the ring.
I wouldn't be opposed to seeing these two women clash down the line again. Tessa and Taya work beautifully together and know that they're head and shoulders above every other Knockout in the roster. I hope this feud continues into the next round of tapings as well.
Just check out this move, ladies and gentlemen. How picture perfect was the delivery and the execution.
#3 Worst: Unsafe work environment?
When you're in the professional wrestling business, you're bound to get hurt. When you throw in LAX and the OGz into the ring at the same time, you know that things will certainly get crazy between the teams. However, I did not like the idea of stripping the mat from the ring. The whole setup looked extremely unsafe indeed.
In fact, as cool as the visual was, I thought that the setup impaired the teams from showing us what they were capable of doing in the ring together. LAX and the OGz could have had a better match, had the mat not been stripped off, I felt. The boards looked wobbly and everyone in the audience seemed like they were scared that someone would get hurt really bad.
The match wasn't too bad. It was just not the classic that all of us fans expected to see.
#4 Best/worst: Ending Brian Cage's streak
Goldberg lost his streak to Kevin Nash at Starrcade. Asuka lost hers to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania this year. In both cases, they were extraordinary pieces of business and had the whole world talking. I just thought that Brian Cage's streak ending did not feel as big as it potentially should have.
In fact, someone should have beaten Cage for the X Division Championship. This would have put that performer over and established him as the top dog in the X Division. Unfortunately, such was not the case at all in Cage's case.
That said, I loved the match and also loved the fact that it was Sami Callihan who got the pin, because I know how good he is on the microphone. If someone can prolong this angle and milk it, it's him.
Did you guys enjoy watching Bound For Glory, ladies and gentlemen?
