Tonight (October 14, 2007), TNA will hold their Bound for Glory PPV card. This show is being billed as TNA’s World Series or TNA’s Wrestlemania. It is supposed to be the biggest show of their year and is supposed to be the end of everything and the beginning of everything that happens in TNA for the connecting years, just as Wrestlemania is for WWE. The good thing about Bound for Glory 2007 is that it just might be.
The one thing that makes a PPV great is great matches. The one thing that makes a PPV great before it happens is the potential for great matches. With that in mind, Bound for Glory has that by the tons. The thing that makes the potential for greatness so high with this card is not the possibility for great matches because the workers in TNA will perform when called upon provided creative does not water the matches down with unnecessary elements. The biggest factor in this card is that all of the matches matter and this is something that WWE has failed to do more often than not.
The TNA tag team titles will be contested with the defending championship team of “The One Man Gang” (because his partner is not allowed to fight) Ron “The Truth” Killings and Adam “Pacman” Jones facing the members of the Christian Coalition; AJ Styles & one-half of the New Japan IWGP Tag Team Champions Tyson Tomko. The winners of this match, provided creative allows a clean win, will be the TNA World Tag Team Champions. If AJ & Tomko win then Team Pacman has to be considered as the number one contenders to the titles on the basis of the automatic rematch that champions are allowed after losing a title. However, no matter who wins this match, the losers cannot be guaranteed as the top contenders because of two other matches on the card.
In an Ultimate X match, the Triple X team of “Primetime” Elix Skipper (the best athlete ever to compete in the TNA X-Division and never win the X-Division title) and Senshi will be facing the Latin American Exchange with the winner receiving a future title shot. This title shot will not be like the title shot that Cryme Tyme won in a WWE tag team battle royal because the winner of Ultimate X will actually get a title match from the winning team in the title match at Bound for Glory. However, even a victory in Ultimate X does not certify that the winning team is the top contenders to the title because former Champions Team 3D will be facing the Steiners in a 2-out-of-3 Falls table match. This match is a grudge match more than it is a positioning match, but the winner has to be considered next in line for a title shot, even ahead of the winner of Ultimate X and the loser in the tile match, and remember, teams like VKM, Hoyt & Rave and the Motor City Machine Guns can all stake a claim to being next in line for a shot at the eventual champs.
Even more than the tag titles, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship is truly up for grabs, and I don’t mean because there is a title match on the Bound for Glory Card. Kurt Angle, the reigning TNA World Heavyweight Champion will be defending his title against Sting in a match born out of a feud that centers on Kurt’s wife an a failed attempt to gel as a championship tag team. Sting was not the true number one contender when he was awarded the title match, but who was? Even more importantly than this is who the top contender will be after the show is over. The winner of the match (with the same considerations as in the tag title match) will be the champion, and if that winner is Sting, then obviously Kurt will be entitled to a title rematch, but what if Kurt cleanly beats Sting? There is a Fight for the Right match being held where 16 wrestlers who do not have a regular match on the card will face each other in a reverse battle royal, battle royal, tournament to eventually determine the number one contender to the TNA World Title. Unfortunately, whoever wins this match will not be the true top contender because the true top contenders to the title will be busy with other matches at Bound for Glory and will not be competing in Fight for the Right, except for Junior Fatu, Chris Harris and James Storm and that is provided that one of these men wins.
Christian Cage will be facing Samoa Joe in a match where Christian, who has not been pinned or made to submit in a match, will be defending his record against Samoa Joe who has only been pinned or made to submit in matches by Kurt Angle. This match is supposedly to see which man is the best wrestler in TNA, and this man would seem to have a rightful claim to the next title shot, even above the Fight for the Right winner, but what about Monster’s Ball?
Monster’s Ball is a no-disqualification blood bath that will feature Rhino, Raven, Abyss and the man who has the ability to get over under his own name and in disguise though promoters don’t trust him enough to put the title on him, Dustin Rhodes. Rhino, Raven & Abyss are all veterans of Monster’s Ball and all three of these men are former world champions in TNA. Dustin Rhodes deserved a title run in WCW, deserved a title run in the WWF as Goldust, and will probably position himself as a title contender in TNA if he stays around long enough. The winner of this match will undoubtedly be a top contender for the title, and since Abyss’ title run is two removed from Kurt Angle’s current run, then Abyss is a viable contender and anyone who beats him is one also. The intrigue in this match is the fact that this is Raven’s third Monster’s Ball and he has never won one. This is Rhino’s fourth and he has two victories and one defeat. Abyss, who Monster’s Ball was created for, has appeared will have appeared in all six matches with his appearance today, but in his previous five appearances, he has yet to win a match though he was only personally defeated once, in Monster’s Ball IV when, in a two man match, Rhino pinned Abyss to gain the victory. Dustin Rhodes will be appearing in his first match, but appeared in War Games several times in the NWA and WCW, so he has experience in violent matches. The winner of this match will definitely be considered one of the toughest men in TNA, and could also be considered the top contender to the title.
With all of this data, we cannot forget the match between Jay Lethal and Christopher Daniels. This match is for the X-Division title, but there are several scenarios where the outcome of this match could affect the world title. Lethal has a clean win over Angle, so if both men retain their titles, Angle might look to avenge the loss and Jim Cornette might force Angle to put the title on the line in the rematch. If the Black Machismo loses to the Fallen Angel, and Kurt Angle beats Sting, then Daniels will be the man who beat the man who cleanly beat the current World Champion. If Sting wins and Daniels wins, then Sting and Daniels have unfinished business that could culminate in a world title match. The only scenario where the winner of this match might not translate into a world title match would be if Sting wins and Lethal retains. These two men have no history nor do they have any heat with one another, but if creative where able, they could create a scenario where Sting is champ but Lethal, off of his victory over Angle, could say that since both of them have beaten Angle, that Lethal deserves a title shot ahead of Angle. The possibilities for the world title are endless.
TNA is in a great situation right now, and that is not including the recent extension of their show to two hours. If Bound for Glory is truly the ending and the beginning for TNA, then it can truly be a new beginning to some grand times ahead for Total Nonstop Wrestling.
Send comments, complaints or questions to me @ ericej@netzero.net
Eric E. Jenkins is an author who has written a semi-biographical book covering the last 30 years in professional wrestling through the eyes of a fan entitled “Reflections of a Professional wrestling Fan: My 30 Years ‘In’ the Business”. He is currently writing “Dead Too Soon”, a book chronicling the careers of and paying tribute to many of the wrestling stars who passed away very young.
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