Bound For Glory, or Were They?
TNA tried to be bound for better things but in the end, it was a recycled act. Just when I felt TNA had the ideas to help fuel their drive to be different and ground breaking, it fell apart. And here is when I felt the emotion that said “this could be huge”, when Samoa Joe was ejected from the building. How did TNA have gold and deliver bronze? And is TNA truly in trouble? Today’s episode will revolve around if TNA is truly Bound for Glory, or is it still up-and-coming?
Just when we thought we were going to get a bonus match in Kurt Angle versus Samoa Joe during BFG, Joe gets ejected. Their mid-show brawl was intense, but I thought it was the beginning of a series of events. Kurt Angle has arrived in TNA to be the ‘messiah’, much like Christian, Sting, Steiner, DDP, Nash, Jeff Hardy, Raven, and every other star who got their stripes elsewhere have thought. He shows up appearing god-like with his entrance (which is damn good IMO), and then delivers an in your face ‘shoot’ like attitude. His headbutt to Joe on Impact was awesome, so was their deeply fueled brawl during BFG, but from a fan perspective, I felt it was groundwork. With Joe being ejected, I felt like it was leading me on to his return later on.
Then came the main event, Sting versus Jeff Jarrett, the most non-anticipated main event in Super Card history. Why? Well first, Sting has been no where the last 2 months. Second, the champion hasn’t even had his belt for a month and lost the PPV’s main event a month earlier, and no matter who walks out with the belt, the ‘cancer’ in TNA continues to spread. They acquired Kurt Angle (by luck), only to add intrigue to the main event, an intrigue that owes everything to Angle & Joe’s confrontation just days before the event. Does this sound familiar? An equally botched ‘dream match’ that resembled this problem was Goldberg versus Brock Lesnar.
Goldberg took the month off after he helped Eddie Guerrero win the WWE Title (the only good thing Goldberg ever did in the WWE). During this time, his opponent, Brock Lesnar, feuded with the Guest Referee Steve Austin. This took all the drama away from Goldberg & Lesnar. Although many call the match a disaster, I didn’t think it was booked poorly at all. Brock was young, fresh, and obviously arrogant. His sell out to the NFL caused the people, who hated Goldberg for no-showing for a month, to turn on Lesnar even worse. So between the two, if Goldberg was leaving for good and Brock still had another 30 years of potential wrestling to return too, it was the right choice to have Goldberg win. But not until after a match where neither man looked ‘weaker’ until the end.
This match was ‘bad’ because it had three men who would have little to do with the company after the night was over. This is why the match at Bound For Glory didn’t have the magic. When Brock Lesnar defeated The Rock at Summer Slam 2002 to win the WWE Title, it was because Lesnar was about to take the lead and try to guide the WWE through the next few years. And he did. Instead of taking the man of the moment, Samoa Joe, and trying to see what he could do with the title, TNA took the safe bet, two ‘main eventers’ in the big time. But the big time isn’t for two established men to battle at the top over the title, it means nothing. A match like this should be a spot or two down from the event. A perfect example of this is Wrestlemania 19, Rock versus Austin. Neither man should have been in the main event and neither man was. Although it could have been ‘the safe bet’, they chose Lesnar. And where is Lesnar now? Not the champ, and definitely not on the roster. And yet the WWE is constantly trying out different people.
So why did I start this rant talking about Joe being ejected? Well if you watched the show (and you should, if nothing else at least for the X-Division Title match), and you watched the main event, you saw Sting’s attitude for the first half of the match. He was slower, less skilled, and Jarrett actually looked pretty damn good. Sting became frustrated and angered, and even looked ready to quit the match! This could have been used to swerve the people, and then have Sting grab a mic and say he shouldn’t be here, someone else should, that man is Samoa Joe! Joe could have come down, beat Jarrett, and even get the perk of seeing Angle make the pin. The swerve would have made the fans go wild (because who would care if the Jarrett vs Sting match wasn’t fulfilled, thus bitching over the advertising wouldn’t even exist) and the torch would have been handed to the future. Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe!
But no. Joe was gone for the rest of the night. A slacking Sting put on a regular match and he even won the belt. The cancer has not been killed, it just merely moved into an even bigger section of TNA, its so-called cure. TNA may be thinking long-term, such as the Christian Cage versus Sting for the title, but they missed their chance to make big bucks off that feud. They missed Joe @ the BFG main event. They did a lot to hurt their chances of taking the company to next level.
Right now.
Right now TNA is still Bound for Glory. Although the event is over, the anger we as fans have at the poorly booked show is now meaningless. They have a lot of potential now and they can go anywhere with it. The WWE has little competition so they can extend their feuds between the Big 4. TNA is different, and therefore should use each PPV as a chance to deliver a blockbuster main event. Who knows, if Genesis cranks out a card that looks like this:
Sting versus Christian Cage
Kurt Angle versus Samoa Joe
Jeff Jarrett versus Rhyno
Then I will be ready to order it.
TNA is fast paced, almost too fast, but it may be the only true weapon in its arsenal. While WWE fans may get bored waiting 8 months for a feud to build to its climax, TNA can move its crowd through feud after feud. The magic begins to fade but this is why they need to focus on their big ones to deliver magic. Without a Wrestlemania, the WWE would never have made it to their level of success. Without a powerful Bound For Glory, TNA will never have a chance.
Runner-up thoughts:
X-Division Classic: Chris Sabin versus Senshi
This match had many people doubtful about if it would deliver or not. And it did. The near falls and sick moves (was it a tooth?) were easily what made this match a ‘do not blink’ encounter. The silliness and shenanigans were missing, the action was intense, and the ending was great. Chris Sabin proved why he is at the top of his game, and Senshi also crushed anyone’s doubts about his ability as of late.
Raw Goes Hollywood: John Cena & Umaga versus the true Jackasses
If anyone looks good getting made fun of, its K-Fed. I enjoyed watching him & the ‘mad white’ Johnny Nitro embarrass themselves on live TV. It’s a quiet joy I have watching celebrities get hurt. It’s a sick perverted fetish, but I would enjoy watching any Hollywood A though F list get hit with a Samoan Spike or FU. Even if I hate John Cena, he did the right thing.
Legend Killed?: DX meets their match
DX has had its fun, but its time this crap ends. Randy Orton has everything to gain from this, as he needs to avenge his sloppy last 2 years by taking out the man who kept him down. Triple H versus Randy Orton was one of the best feuds Raw could have had but pulled a TNA and dropped the program due to low expectations. I get another chance to see it and hope it plays out better than 2004.
Well until next time, remember to be a fan and not a critic.
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