October 21st, 2023
Cicero Stadium
Cicero, Illinois
Countdown to Bound for Glory
Impact Hall of Fame Induction #1: Traci Brooks
They call Traci the original Knockout, I feel feeling like they don’t show enough love for the ORIGINAL Trinity. Nothing against Traci though, she definitely deserves this, it’s good to see them give the nod to a real TNA Original. Gail Kim comes out to induct Traci, and wow she looked absolutely beautiful. What a honey. It seems they were really there for one another during their early days. Gail introduces Traci who’s looking all lovely in red. A real nice, classy speech from Traci, who got emotional. I really enjoyed seeing her get her moment!
Impact Hall of Fame Induction #2: Mike Tenay and Don West
Wow I forgot about this, and it will be super upsetting. Don passed away not so long ago, who is one of the most under rated colour commentators in history. It never really was the same after Don and Mike weren’t on the call for the company. Scott D’Amore came out to induct them. Mike Tenay was there to accept it! That’s more exciting than anything else that’ll happen on the show. Hearing Mike’s voice was certainly welcome to my ears. Mike gave a lot of shoutouts to everybody who got him to where he got to. This is likely the last time we’ll see Mike Tenay as he totally disappeared from the wrestling business. Hopefully he hops on the broadcast with Tom and Matthew. His speech was an all time speech, I loved it!
Bound For Glory 2023
Impact X-Division Title Match
Chris Sabin (c) vs. KENTA
Background:
This is the first time they have ever faced 1 on 1, Kenta hasn’t lost a match in 3 months, and Chris Sabin is on a 5 match winning streak.
The Match:
Typical stale mate to start off. I have one thing to admit, I have never really understood the hype about KENTA. I don’t think he’s bad, I have just never seen him do anything that has truly wow’d me, so here was his chance on this big platform. Sabin hit a sweet plancha off the apron on KENTA as the crowd were super hot for the first match. It was good to see Impact in a bigger arena for Bound For Glory! KENTA got a bit of heat, Sabin fought back, as is tradition – it must be difficult after all these years to continue to come up with ways to keep these crazy matches exciting and innovative when almost everything humanly possible has been done. Sabin hit the Clothesline from Hell Michigan, followed by the Cradle Shock, and Sabin won pretty decisively! That was good.
Aftermath:
I don’t see much happening between these two after this, it was pretty decisive. Sabin retains and continues his reign.
Monster’s Ball Match
PCO vs. Rhino vs. Steve Maclin vs. Moose
Background:
This was all kind of randomly thrown together I feel, almost Monsters Ball for Monsters Ball’s sake. PCO has been feuding with Maclin, Moose and PCO were kind of loosely involved with this, PCO had just finished his feud with Bully Ray, who is ‘supposed’ to be aligned with Maclin.
The Match:
This match was the palette cleanser I needed here, I was concerned the Tag Title match would be next! Maclin attacked Rhino during his entrance, and Moose followed suit with his briefcase and wore Rhino out, following it with a sick powerbomb on Maclin on the ring apron! PCO made his entrance, and I still can’t understand why he would want to leave Impact considering how much of a pedestal they have put him on in the last few months. PCO TOOK A MASSIVE BACK DROP OVER THE TOP ROPE ONTO A LADDER, that was absolutely mental. Moose copped a Death Valley Driver from Maclin into a trash can in the corner, which kept the hectic pace of craziness in this match going. My thought is, Maclin *should* win this. PCO hit a sweet chokeslam on Maclin and a suicide dive to Rhino and the people were behind him! Moose got the thumbtacks off PCO, and Moose poured them onto cinderblocks. PCO got a powerbomb onto the blocks! Unfortunately he didn’t hit all of the tacs, but he did have some in the back of his head. Rhino brought tables into the match, and it happened to be a barbed wire table. Bully Ray ran out as Maclin was setting up to take out Rhino, and pushed Maclin off the top rope through the barbed wire table and annoyingly the bump was kind of off, that’s such a shame. It was still cool. Bully Ray yelled ‘whos soft now’. PCO was back up and all over Moose in the ring. Moose copped a Gore from Rhino whilst holding a chair, then PCO sommersaulted onto Rhino and Moose, and pinned Moose to win the match!
Aftermath:
PCO picks up a huge win… is this his final hurrah? It looks like Bully and Maclin will be feuding out of this, where Moose and Rhino go next though, is all up in the air.
Mickie Jamies Interview with Gia Miller
Boy oh boy, Gia looked gorgeous! Mickie is now no longer doing the Last Rodeo run. Which meant that if she lost the Impact Knockouts Championship, she would retire. This match should be good! But I am disappointed in not seeing MK Ultra defend the Knockouts Tag Titles on this show.
Impact World Tag Team Title Match
The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) (c) vs. ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey)
Background:
The Rascalz cheated to beat Sub Culture (who haven’t been seen since) for the Impact Tag Team Titles. Since then, The ABC, The Good Hands, Sami Callihan and Rich Swann have been chasing the titles. Luckily for the ABC, they won the Tag Team Title shot from the Feast of Fired Match at Impact 1000. They cash in here at Bound for Glory!
The Match:
This match has no heat, so it will be essentially a match to see people hit moves on one another. One other complaint I have is, I’m getting tired of these being essentially the X Division Tag Team Titles. Gimme a big Hoss team to come in here and wreek havoc. Give me Butcher and The Blade, they’re so misused in AEW. Ah man, Ace did a super telegraphed dive to the outside on the Rascalz, that’s just not for me brother. I am definitely not discounting the level of effort these teams put into this match, I just feel like I have seen this kind of match a million times now. At what point do we worry about tags? I did like Trey Miguel literally screaming in the referee’s face over his call. Again, there was too much of both teams being in the ring and tags being un-necessary. The crowd chanted ‘this is awesome’, which is how they are programmed. The ABC managed to foil the Rascalz using the spray paint, and ferociously hit their tag team move to reclaim the titles! That was a good finish.
Aftermath:
The ABC win the titles and I am sure this feud will continue.
Singles Match
Mike Bailey vs. Will Ospreay
Background:
Another first time ever match. This is Will’s first time in Impact Wrestling and he’s made a name for himself, so this is a big match for Impact, and likely Mike Bailey’s biggest match of his career. This match hopefully brought new eyeballs to Impact, and hopefully those fans will give Impact a chance from here on.
The Match:
Another Knockouts Match would have been good as a palette cleanser between this match and the Tag Team Title Match. I have to laugh, I hate when fans start a Holy Shit chant before anything has happened. Mike hit his awesome inside out lionsault on Will early on. Mike needs to get back to this, he was real hot in Impact a year or less ago, but I suppose his booking has changed things up for him. One thing about Ospreay is, his execution of a simple backbreaker, a crossbody to the outside, the execution is with everything he has. These spots I dislike are always there. Somebody goes to the outside and the opponent is already setting up for a dive. If Will put Mike over here, it would do so much for him, but I have a feeling Will is set to win this. The kicks made this feel different, I did like the way they ducked and weaved out of the way of the kicks. Will hit the Os-Cutter on the ring apron – Will, you want to keep your career going for 10 more years, maybe cut out the ring apron bumps! 2nd Os-Cutter in the ring and Mike Bailey kicked out at two, and Bailey ducks out from the attempted Hidden Blade, they trade off kicking eachother in the head and no sell them, and that really hurts this match for my taste. Will eventually hit the Hidden Blade and there was a double down and an annoying fight forever chant. Bailey reversed another Os-Cutter with knees to Wills back, Ultimo Weapon from Bailey, and Will kicked out of course. This got insane toward the end of the match. Bailey hit some insane move called Meteor Rain and Will kicks out again because he gets to kick out of everything. Flamingo driver from Bailey reversed into a Styles Clash from Ospreasy. Will then hits a ‘Storm Driver 93’ and Bailey kicks out. It’s too much bro. It’s great but you’re out of the realm of realism here. Will hits the Hidden Blade, then a Stormbreaker, and finally gets a win when it’s obvious. The match was fantastic but they don’t need to go that far to make it special. Eveyrone has to be killed in order to lose. Props to them both anyway!
Aftermath:
Will gets the win, and I hope he does the right thing and puts over Josh Alexander when he faces him.
Call Your Shot Gauntlet Match
Bully Ray vs. Juventud Guerrera vs. Johnny Swinger vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Eric Young vs. Dirty Dango (w/Alpha Bravo & Oleg Prudius) vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Brian Myers vs. Matt Cardona vs. Kenny King (w/Sheldon Jean) vs. Heath vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Rich Swann vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Joe Hendry vs. Gisele Shaw (w/Jai Vidal & Savannah Evans) vs. Sonny Kiss vs. Jake Something vs. Jody Threat vs. KiLynn King
Background:
This is anybodys. I am still not sold on the intergender thing, because one time I saw Moose in there with a smaller female wrestler and I’m like, surely he just grabs her and throws her out with ease. You have a guy like Jake Something, put Gisele Shaw in there next to him, sorry, it’s super unrealistic. Anyway, the winner of this gets a shot at the Impact World Championship at any time. Moose already has his briefcase, so the conclusion of the Main Event COULD be very interesting.
The Match:
Jake Something and Eddie Edwards are in this to begin. They have a bit of a fun stale mate, before Kenny King entered 3rd. I hope they don’t get into that bad habit of people being on the outside of the ring. Kenny and Eddie reunite for an Honor No More reunion which is cool.
Juventud Guerrera is next which gets a huge pop! Juvi got a nice shine, before Kenny hit him with spine on the pine.
Johnny Swinger enters next for another pop, and the showdown with he and King was what everybody wanted to see.
Juvi eliminated Kenny King which was awesome. Johnny hugged Juvi, who seemed to not know who he was. Then Crazzy Steve attacked Johnny with his briefcase.
Gisele Shaw then was next and I had to laugh because of the Gisele strut as she got to the entrance way with all her sass, and it just gets ruined with security running out. Gisele eliminated Swinger which is fantastic.
Steve had the fork and was stalking Swinger, and Tommy Dreamer attacked Crazzy Steve. I really thought those two would be battling on this show.
Jody Threat was in next who went after Gisele. Jai Vidal and Samantha saved Gisele from being eliminated and Jai literally helped fix her makeup at that point which is a pop.
Kilynn King was in next who again, went after Jody Threat. It’s good to see the Knockouts and the Men are pairing off together.
Eddie eliminated Juvi! Sonny Kiss was then in next which really blurred the lines! Sonny eliminated Gisele Shaw over the top rope. Bully Ray was in next and he looked like he woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
Sonny puts up their fists and then dances for Bully. Bully is going to dance isn’t he? Yep, he went old school. Sonny then jumped into Bullys arms, Bully dropped Sonny and just said “that’s weird” and walked off. That’s all fun stuff. Bully then just straight up punched Kilynn King in the face which I laughed at.
Matt Cardona was out next and Sonny Kiss and Bully did the What’s Up. Sonny is told to get the tables, but then Kilynn NAILS Sonny. This has actually been fun.
Oh Jordynne Grace was next but I honestly thought it was Scott Steiner at first. Eric Young was next, who came in hot. Eric eliminated Eddie Edwards. Joe Hendry was next. Joe did the usual shtick, the entrances are piling in! Bryan Myers is next. Myers eliminates Hendry.
The Major Players embrace, and they eliminate Sonny Kiss. Heath was in next. Myers eliminates Heath after he hits a bunch of Wake Up Calls. Kaz is in next. They actually have a terrific roster. Rich Swann is in, the crowd clap to his theme song and he starts clapping his legs with every single strike he delivers. Jonathan Gresham is in next and he easily eliminates Jody Threat.
Gresham then whips his wife on the butt with a t shirt which is hilarious. Dirty Dango is in next with Oleg Prudius and Bravo, and Dango gets eliminated straight away by Jake Something. Oleg starts laying people out in the ring! Kaz gets eliminated, and there are no more entrants remaining at this point.
Gresham and Jordynne started working together. Rich Swann got eliminated and copped it sweet on the ring apron and I laughed. Eric Young gets eliminated, and the Major Players are eliminating people left right and center.
Jake Something viciously eliminated Gresham, and the Major Players eliminated Jake, what was great was Jake almost had Cardona out, and Myers helped Cardona.
Immediately, Cardona eliminated Brian Myers. I assume Cardona wins this, right? Kilynn King and Cardona get eliminated. If Jordynne wins this, that would be disappointing, especially with what I was hoping for after the Main Event.
The back and forth with them both was fun. Juggernaut driver on Bully and that is just a disappointing result. She’s been Knockouts Champ before.
Aftermath:
Well, there goes the chance of a double cash in after the Main Event which would have been unprecedented. I am sure Trinity retains over Mickie, then something happens with Trin and Dynne.
Impact Knockouts World Title Match
Trinity (c) vs. Mickie James
Background:
Mickie James returned recently after Trinity had already won the championship, and Mickie respectfully challenged Trinity as Mickie never lost the Impact Knockouts World Title. This is a babyface vs babyface match. Let’s see if they pull it off without any heat!
The Match:
Nice chaining to begin the match, the usual feeling out process. Trinity went for Starstruck early but Mickie escaped. Trinity is great but sometimes her over complicated offense does make things a little clunky. Mickie copped Trinitys bottom in her face, and then Mickie responded by licking her fingers which got a huge rise from the crowd.
Trinitys ring gear appeared to be bothering her. Trinity missed the springboard X-Factor, Mickie then drove Trinity into the mat with the heatseeker. Trinity is hurt bad, why didn’t Mickie go for the pin? MickDT always gets reversed the first time! Trinity took advantage of the hesitation and ended up locking in Starstruck, and Trinity made Mickie tap out. That was a little anticlimactic!
Aftermath:
Surely there’s a rematch down the road. Trinity STILL needs to have a formiddable opponent or rival to go after her and make her life hell. It’s tiring watching the typical babyface title reign with no real heat.
Moose Interview with Gia Miller
Moose making sure everybody is aware that he’s going to cash in.. and it looks like he’s going to do it at Impact Hard to Kill. I hope that’s a swerve!
Impact World Title Match
Alex Shelley (c) vs. Josh Alexander
Background:
Josh had to relinquish his Impact World Championship when he got injured during his record breaking title reign. Alex Shelley was the man to pick up the title after Josh relinquished, and Josh came back, dealt with some hell, and has finally gained himself the opportunity to face Alex Shelley at Bound for Glory.
The Match:
Dueling Motor City/Walking Weapon chants start this, as we see Josh and Alex chain in the early going. They did a good job building heat for this one, so, I am therefore, much more inclined to be invested. They jock for position with attempts of their finishers, it’s fun stuff. Matt and Tom did a great job explaining the psychology of Josh Alexander. They traded blows to the point where Alex just yelled “Come on you son of a bitch” – the hate is there. Alex has forced himself to hate this man. Alex worked on the surgically repaired arm.
Josh gained the advantage in what appears to be a chess match. Alex tried to stop the multiple germans and ever so realistically pulled off a turnbuckle pad. Border City Stretch from Alex – you saw the desperation and pain in Josh’s face. GREAT selling. This was a Heavyweight title match! They built this up slowly, it was art.
Josh hit a great chaos theory on Shelley, and Shelleys desperation was evident. Shelley hit sliced bread on the floor on the outside! They battled bigtime, Josh’s head gear got slapped off, remember that middle turnbuckle was still exposed at this point! They continued to try hitting big time moves, before FINALLY Alex hit Shellshock! Alex then hit a 2nd Shellshock and wow, holy hell, he actually won! Still a few minutes in the show… Moose?
Aftermath:
Alex Shelley is now definitely the World Champion – Josh stands up and offers Alex a handshake? The exposed turnbuckle never came into play. They shake. Josh put the belt around Alex’s waist. I really wanted Moose to come out. It didn’t happen. We will see what happens at Hard To Kill!
The show ends with them announcing that Imapact Wrestling will be finally rebranding back to Total Nonstop Action – TNA Wrestling! What an awesome promo. Eric Young saying “We have been slept on for the last F#$%ing time” and he’s right. Thank god it’s back. I hope they push the envelope, I hope they stop playing it safe. It’s time.
