TNA: Bound For Glory 2010 Review

The biggest show of the year for TNA actually is a fair representation of the company as a whole: some visible potential hidden underneath mounds of frustration.

Opening Match: TNA World Tag Team Titles: Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley © vs. Max and Jeremy Buck
Shelley connects with an enzuigiri on Max and the Motor City Machineguns control with their double teaming. Jeremy trips Shelley from the floor, allowing Max to connect with a dropkick. Sabin punts Jeremy from the apron and the MCMG go back to utilizing double teams. Generation Me regroup on the outside but the MCMG catch them with stereo dives. In the ring, Shelley lands a flying crossbody on Jeremy. Max crotches Shelley up top and Generation Me hit a DDT. They isolate Shelley until he hits a flying double stomp on Jeremy and makes the tag. Sabin takes out Max with his hesitation dropkick in the corner and lands a dive to the floor onto Jeremy. Back in, Sabin connects with a springboard clothesline on Max. Jeremy gets dropkick off the apron but Shelley misses a plancha. Jeremy hits a slingshot facebuster on Sabin and dives out onto Shelley. Max plants Sabin with another facebuster. Shelley saves his partner from a rope-assisted DDT and german suplexes Jeremy. Max hits a springboard ace crusher on Sabin while Jeremy takes out Shelley with a dive. Jeremy lands a 450 splash onto Sabin for a nearfall. Shelley lays out Generation Me with a DDT-flatliner combination. Generation Me respond with a frog splash-moonsault combination. Sabin blocks More Bang For Your Buck by german suplexing Max off the top rope. The MCMG hit their splash-neckbreaker combination on Jeremy to retain their titles at 12:53. Extremely effective opener that gave off the feeling that this is the biggest show of the year. These two teams managed to do a lot in thirteen minutes, mixing their great chemistry together with the proper storyline elements. Generation Me teased the hangman’s DDT properly and tried to work over Sabin’s neck whenever possible. The way Sabin blocked More Bang For Your Buck was a sight to behold as well. Fantastic start to the show. Hopefully TNA can keep this momentum rolling for the next two and a half hours. Some people say that I’m way too optimistic… ***½


Match #2: TNA Knockouts Title: Angelina Love © vs. Velvet Sky vs. Madison Rayne vs. Tara
Mickie James is the special referee. Rayne and Tara enter together and The Beautiful People follow suit. This is a four-way but tags are necessary. Love and Sky trade pin attempts before both going for shoulder blocks. Rayne enters the match but falls victim to a front slam from Love. Sky snaps off a satellite headscissors on Tara and applies an octopus hold. Sky turns it into a pin attempt but Tara immediately recovers with a dropkick. Rayne kicks Sky from the apron, causing Love to go after her. The match breaks down as Tara hits a swinging side slam on Love. Everyone starts hitting moves. Rayne and Love get knocked to the floor. Tara rolls up Sky to become the new TNA Knockouts Champion at 5:53. Reminiscent of the token Knockouts’ match on Impact except given a little more time. They didn’t play around with the feud as much as I would have liked and the finish made Tara’s title win look like a fluke. *½
Tara seems confused after the match, knowing that she screwed Rayne out of the title. I know the idea is that Tara didn’t mean to win the title, but what’s that say about the legitimacy of the title in the first place? Rayne pushes Mickie James down, who responds with a right hand. Tara and James stare each other down.

Match #3: Shannon Moore and Jesse Neal vs. Eric Young and Orlando Jordan
Neal lands a springboard crossbody onto Jordan and Moore adds a dropkick. Young does his shtick and I still don’t find it funny. Moore snaps off a headscissors on Jordan and connects with a leg lariat. Young tries a corner charge on his own partner but misses. Biggest show of the year. Ink Inc. crotch Young and Jordan on the top rope as Taz tries to enjoy this match by providing witty lines on commentary. Jordan lays out Moore with a spinebuster and covers him in a sexual way. Young has the “TNA rulebook” on the apron for some reason. Rule #1: There must be blood at least once per show to illustrate the edginess of the company. More stupidity ensues. Young punches Jordan and connects with more strikes. Mike Tenay is laughing like an idiot on commentary. Ink Inc. hit a neckbreaker-samoan drop combination on Jordan for the win at 6:36. Under no circumstances should a match like this be happening at the biggest show of the year. The comedy wasn’t funny, to the point where it may make you embarrassed to be a professional wrestling fan. Looking at some of the talent that didn’t make it onto the card, I greatly question why this match wasn’t saved for Impact. ½*
Christy Hemme is with Jeff Hardy backstage. Tonight is a new beginning for him and he claims that someone will suffer the Twist of Fate followed by a swantan.

Match #4: TNA X Division Title: Jay Lethal © vs. Douglas Williams
They trade control of a wristlock. Williams connects with a clothesline and an uppercut. Lethal responds with the Lethal Combination and lands a plancha to the outside. Back in, Williams avoids a springboard dropkick and takes control. Lethal comes back with a series of strikes and lands a springboard moonsault. Williams counters a handspring elbow into a german suplex. He follows with an overhead suplex and hits Chaos Theory for a two count. Williams snaps off a top rope hurricanrana but Lethal rolls through into a pin attempt to retain his title at 8:15. Let’s be honest. TNA threw this match together at the last minute and gave them eight minutes to “showcase” what the X Division has to offer. With that said, these two made great use out of their eight minutes and I really wish they would have been given more time. The finish was especially a nice touch, with Williams trying a high risk maneuver but having it backfire on him. **½
Lethal celebrates after the match, going into the crowd. Robbie and Cookie (The Shore) attack him out of nowhere. Robbie tosses Lethal back into the ring and hits an ace crusher. He gets on the microphone, calls Lethal a disgrace, and talks about his plans after he wins the X Division Title. Cookie swears to be anti-PG and The Shore start dancing.

Match #5: Monster’s Ball: Abyss vs. Rob Van Dam
RVD comes out of the gates aggressively with a flurry of kicks. He hits a guillotine leg drop and connects with a flying thrust kick. Abyss falls into the corner and RVD kicks a chair into his face. RVD lands a flying crossbody to the floor and throws a barbed wire board into the ring. Abyss gains control but gets bulldogged into the barbed wire board. RVD misses Rolling Thunder, sending himself into the barbed wire board. Abyss props a table between the apron and the guardrail. He hits RVD with a garbage can and props a barbed wire board between the apron and the guardrail. They battle on the apron and Abyss falls onto the table. RVD hits Rolling Thunder, sending Abyss through the table. Impact Zone is chanting “this is wrestling”. I’m surprised it took them until the fifth match. In the ring, RVD kicks a chair into Abyss’ face. Abyss throws a chair at RVD, knocking him off the top rope and through the barbed wire board. “This is awesome”. Abyss props another barbed wire board in the corner. RVD sends him into it and then coast to coast kicks it into his face. Abyss dodges a Five Star Frog Splash and grabs Janice. RVD throws a chair at him steals Janice. He hits Abyss in the gut with Janice and connects with a superkick. RVD lands a Five Star Frog Splash for the victory at 12:59. For what this was, these two did a fine job and delivered an enjoyable weapon-based brawl. However, they couldn’t properly pay respect to the feud and go all out due to Lethal Lockdown being on the card. This storyline is the reason why the TNA World Title had to be vacated…it’s a pretty big deal. The blowoff was merely a midcard match that was largely overshadowed by the inevitable appearance of “they” later on in the show. RVD and Abyss succeeded in providing a solid brawl without taking away from the rest of the card, but I was expecting this blowoff to be more eventful. **¾
After RVD leaves, Abyss looks into the camera and warns us about 10.10.10. He reiterates that “they” are coming.

Match #6: Jeff Jarrett and Samoa Joe vs. Sting, Kevin Nash, and D’Angelo Dinero
Hulk Hogan was supposed to team with Jarrett and Joe, but back issues stopped that from happening. Instead, we have ourselves a handicap match. Dinero takes Joe down with a shoulder tackle. Joe responds with an overhead suplex and a leg lariat. Sting tags in and attacks Jarrett on the apron. Joe blocks a Stinger Splash with an STO. The action goes to the floor where Joe whips Sting into the guardrail. Nash attacks Joe from behind and the heels isolate him in the ring. Joe clotheslines Sting and Dinero. Nash gets caught with an enzuigiri. Joe goes to make the tag but JARRETT DROPS FROM THE APRON!!! SWERVE! Nash hits the Jacknife Powerbomb on Joe for the win at 7:41. The match was actually going along nicely until the screwy finish. Whether or not you saw the swerve coming, it’s all about how they handle it in the coming weeks. Hopefully the spotlight will be on Joe in his fight against the odds. *½
Team 3D make their way to the ring. Ray talks about their twenty-three tag team title wins and thanks the crowd. He claims that TNA has the best tag team division in the world. Look no further than Orlando Jordan and Eric Young. I made up the last line, he didn’t namedrop Orlando Jordan. Ray announces that Team 3D is officially retired. However, they have one last request…a final match. They want to wrestle the best tag team in the world today. Team 3D want to face the Motor City Machineguns. Either the MCMG retire them or they retire as TNA World Tag Team Champions. Mike Tenay and Taz have a hilarious argument at the commentary table of whether or not the MCMG should accept the challenge.

Match #7: Lethal Lockdown: AJ Styles, Kazarian, Matt Morgan, James Storm, and Robert Roode vs. Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Sabu, Rhino, and Stevie Richards
In a new twist, both teams wait at ringside to enter the cage. Ric Flair and Mick Foley start brawling after the entrances until referees break them up. Kazarian and Stevie Richards start the match. Richards hits four consecutive neckbreakers and throws Kazarian into the cage repeatedly. He misses a dropkick and Kazarian hits a slingshot leg drop. Richards avoids a top rope leg drop and finds success with a flatliner. He applies a submission but AJ Styles enters the match to break the hold. Styles takes Richards out with his signature dropkick. Styles and Kazarian hit a clothesline-back suplex combination and lock in stereo submissions. Tommy Dreamer is the next participant and connects with a double clothesline. He hits a pumphandle suplex on Styles and follows with a flying elbow drop on Kazarian. They do a tower of doom spot in the corner. Robert Roode joins the match for Fortune. He sends Dreamer into the cage, busting him open. Flair manages to find a hole in the cage to punch Dreamer. Sabu enters the cage and cleans house. He plants Styles with a springboard tornado DDT. Everyone brawls back and forth until James Storm joins the action, giving Fortune the advantage. Styles hits a backcracker on Richards followed by a DDT from Storm. Raven evens the odds and actually looks decently impressive. Matt Morgan enters last for Fortune. He powerbombs Sabu into the cage and punishes Dreamer with repeated elbow strikes. Rhino is the final entrant. He plants Roode with a spinebuster and hits a belly to belly suplex on Morgan. Storm falls victim to a Gore. The cage ceiling begins to lower. Flair and Foley start brawling up the ramp. Richards hits Styles with a cookie sheet. Raven and Morgan have an intense kendo stick-trash can lid duel. Morgan misses a Carbon Footprint and collides with the cage. Richards throws Kazarian through the cage door. Richards chases Kazarian to the top of the cage. Everyone else is brawling outside of the cage at this point. Sabu lands a chair-assisted dive onto Morgan from inside the cage. On the ceiling, Kazarian sets Richards on top of a table. Kazarian climbs a ladder but Brian Kendrick appears from under a sheet to stop him. They botch the table spot, so Kendrick just back drops Kazarian through it. In the ring, Dreamer hits the Dreamer Driver on Styles from the middle rope onto a chair for the victory at 24:44. This was better than I expected, mainly due to the action being kept interesting for the majority of the contest. The order of entry was effective and the portion of the match leading up to the ceiling lowering was solid aside from a few minor lulls. Although I would have liked to see Fortune win, at least Kendrick was involved in some substantial way. Unlike the RVD/Abyss match, I feel as though I received proper closure here. Everyone tried their hardest to make this blowoff stand out and even guys like Sabu and Raven looked fine in their role. However, from now on, let’s have Lethal Lockdown only take place at the pay per view called, you know, Lockdown. ***
Christy Hemme is backstage with Kurt Angle. He promises to win the TNA World Title tonight and dedicates his match to Hulk Hogan.

Match #8: TNA World Title: Mr. Anderson vs. Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Hardy
The title is currently vacant, as Rob Van Dam had to forfeit it due to being injured by Abyss. This match has no time limit and there are no countouts nor disqualifications. Angle misses a corner charge and collides with the ringpost. Anderson hits a neckbreaker on Hardy. Angle quickly breaks up the pin attempt and hits a belly to belly suplex on Anderson. He follows by german suplexing both of his opponents. Hardy back drops Angle to the floor. Angle drags Anderson out to the floor as well and Hardy lands a dive onto both of them. In the ring, Angle suplexes Hardy off the top rope. Anderson immediately finlay rolls Angle but gets caught with a mule kick from Hardy. They try some intricate spot in the corner but it doesn’t go according to plan. They settle for a tower of doom. Angle hits rolling german suplexes on Anderson and does the same to Hardy. The straps are down! He applies an ankle lock on Hardy and Anderson at the same time. They manage to roll through and escape the hold. Anderson hits a finlay roll from the middle rope on Angle. Hardy breaks up the pin attempt with a swantan. Angle hits the Angle Slam on Hardy for a nearfall. He follows with a superplex on Anderson and Hardy almost steals the win. Hardy lands Whisper in the Wind onto Angle and hits the Twist of Fate on Anderson. He follows with a swantan on Anderson but Angle breaks up the pin attempt and synchs in an ankle lock. Hardy rolls through, sending Angle into a Mic Check from Anderson for a nearfall. Anderson and Hardy knock each other down with clotheslines. Angle lands a moonsault onto Hardy for a two count. Anderson and Angle tease finishers and Angle absolutely levels the referee with a clothesline. Here we go. Anderson hits the Mic Check on Angle. Eric Bischoff enters the ring with a chair in hand. Suddenly, Hulk Hogan’s music starts playing and the Hulkster is in the house! Hogan crutches his way down to the ring. He starts yelling at Bischoff as Hardy rolls into the ring. Hogan gives a crutch to Hardy. BISCHOFF AND HARDY HIT ANGLE! SWERVE!! Hogan, Bischoff, and Hardy are allied. Hardy hits Anderson with a crutch and follows with the Twist of Fate to become the new TNA World Champion at 18:38. To be honest, this was the first Bound For Glory main event to ever truly feel special going into the show. I wasn’t convinced that they would deliver the match of the year, but I was confident that these three would try to top expectations. For the first fifteen minutes, this match was fantastic. Sure, they had a few rough spots, but they were working in some unique three-way exchanges and had the crowd invested. The match was going to be something special…and then the referee got taken out. I don’t care how you feel about the finish; the overbooking KILLED this contest. I can’t say that I’m surprised. ***¼
Bischoff hands Hardy the belt. The look on Dixie Carter’s face is priceless. Jeff Jarrett and Abyss walk down to the ring. Hogan and Bischoff hug Abyss. The fans are throwing garbage into the ring. Rob Van Dam runs out to confront Hardy, but Hardy hits him with the belt. Hogan, Bischoff, Hardy, Abyss, and Jarrett celebrate to end the show.

Overall: Bound For Glory 2010 features some quality wrestling but has to be considered a letdown in the sense that it’s the biggest show of the year. To start, there is nothing on this show that you absolutely need to see. If that last sentence describes Impact, then that’s passable. However, this is Bound For Glory, TNA’s most important night of the year. The opener was definitely a positive, as it hyped up the crowd and actually ended up being the best match of the night. The card then hit a lull until the last two contests. Lethal Lockdown was a solid blowoff and the EV 2.0 guys looked better than expected. While the main event featured fantastic action, the totally overbooked finish ruined what could have been epic. TNA is putting all of its focus on an angle that had fans throwing garbage into the ring. Regardless of what kind of “heat” that is, I’m not foreseeing a bright future. This show receives a thumbs in the middle. Star ratings alone would dictate a slight recommendation. However, you must be prepared before watching this show. It certainly doesn’t seem like the biggest show of the year and you WILL become frustrated by the end of it.