TNA – Bound For Glory ’05 DVD Review

TNA – Bound For Glory – Orlando, Florida – October 23, 2005

Review by Jacob Ziegler

Introduction

First off, just so everyone knows, I am selling some of my masters I no longer need, so if anyone is interested in some stuff, shoot me an e-mail. I may even make some personalized stuff if you’re really nice to me.

Mike Tenay and Don West welcome us to the biggest pay-per-view in TNA history. They made a big deal about how the first half-hour of the show is free, but the first half hour of every show is free if you count the Preshow. There’s even the countdown on the screen, making this feel like even more of a Preshow. We start off right off with a match, as Tenay tells us that Kevin Nash will not be able to compete in the main event, but we will have a substitute.

PRESHOW MATCH: X Division Four-Way – Sonjay Dutt vs. Alex Shelley vs. Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong

It’s three members of ROH’s Generation Next plus Sonjay. This is a good choice for an opener. They do a four-way version of Rock/Paper/Scissors, which I’m not sure works logistically, but we wind up with Shelley and Strong starting off. Shelley and Strong do some chain and Strong tags out to Sonjay. He does some cool stuff to Shelley, so he slaps him. Strong comes in and gets dominated by Sonjay, who does an awesome 720 around Strong’s shoulders that ends in a headscissors. Aries comes in and hits his usual hyper offense on Strong. Everyone comes in and they have a four-way submission going and I’m starting to wonder if this is a ROH show. They do some more stuff and both Shelley and Aries get knocked to the floor. Strong goes for a superplex on Sonjay but it’s blocked and Sonjay hits a dragon hurricanrana off the top to get the pin at 12:31. That was a good hot opener that showcased four talented guys pretty well.
Rating: ***½

We’re backstage now where Shane Douglas is with America’s Most Wanted, who regained the Tag Team Titles from The Naturals last night on Impact. They of course cheated to win, hitting Chase Stevens with a beer bottle. Referee Rudy Charles somehow misses all the broken glass in the ring. They will have a rematch tonight on the PPV. Douglas mentions Team 3D, which reminds me of the awesome funeral segment they did a few weeks prior to this on Impact. Man, Gail Kim looks hot.

Mike and Don are back to hype the card for tonight. Tenay gets a decree from Larry Zbyszko that every TNA star must be ready in case they are supposed to be in the main event.

At this point, Raven comes out and uses some big words in his promo. Cassidy Riley is with him. I hope Raven gets the title shot tonight. He gives Larry Z 10 seconds to come out to the ring, which he does. Raven demands to be put in the main event tonight, and Larry resists so Raven goes after him. Larry has security remove him. This brings Rhino out. He says that Raven isn’t the same guy he knew five years ago. He says that Raven crucified a man and held another man’s family hostage five years ago. That was really 10 years ago. Rhino asks Raven if a girl got to his head, so Raven attacks him too. Raven gets removed from the ring, so Rhino Goes Cassidy Riley. Don and Mike are back, and Don smartly points out that Raven has a legitimate gripe because he hasn’t gotten his rematch yet.

Shane Douglas is backstage with AJ Styles, the TNA X-Division Champion. AJ somehow relates this to football, so I tune out.

Mike and Don continue to hype the card, which includes three title matches amongst some other big stuff like Monster’s Ball and Ultimate X. Also, some Samoan dancers are practicing their routine for Samoa Joe. Also, Jushin Liger is here! The pay-per-view starts now!

Opening Video

We actually get to see the man behind the deep narrating voice. He goes over the last year in TNA history (when they started the three hour pay-per-views), cleverly incorporating the titles of the pay-per-views into his speech. That was a sweet opening video and really has me hyped up.

MATCH #1: International Showdown – Samoa Joe vs. Jushin Liger

Joe does a Polynesian tribal dance for his entrance, which is pretty awesome. I once had a roommate that would sing Jushin Liger’s theme song all the time, it ruled. Liger is from New Japan Pro Wrestling, and the fans throw streamers for him, making me think once again that I might just be watching a ROH show. NJPW President Simon Inoki is in attendance. Joe overpowers Liger to start, so Liger tries to out-quick Joe, and does so successfully. Joe eventually does overpower Liger though, and he uses the chinlock. Liger comes back with a fisherman’s buster and a frog splash that both only get two. He goes for the palm strike but Joe kicks him in the head. Liger comes back and hits a series of palm strikes for two. Joe recovers and hits the muscle buster and follows it up with the Choke and Liger passes out at 7:15. That was a good little sprint, but for Joe and Liger they could have done so much more. And what was the point of bringing in Liger to work less than 10 minutes?
Rating: **¾

Fan Fest

This is a mishmash of footage of the wrestlers mixed with testimonials from the fans who were there. This is exactly like WWE Axxess, but it’s a good idea so I don’t blame them.

They show Jon Bolen and Jamie D in the audience, who won a national talent search and will begin training at the NJPW Dojo in Los Angeles.

Simon Diamond is backstage with his Diamonds in the Rough, Elix Skipper and David Young. He fires them up for their match tonight.

MATCH #2: The Diamonds In The Rough vs. Sonny Siaki, Apolo & Shark Boy

The babyface team is a bit random, but I guess they wanted to get everybody on the card. Diamond and Shark Boy start out, with Diamond trying to overpower Sharky. He takes control for a bit until Shark Boy gives Diamond The Bite. Diamond tags to Skipper. He wrestles Shark Boy for a moment until Sharky tags Apolo in. Apolo takes control until Young hits a missile dropkick without being tagged. Siaki comes in a house-a-fire. Apolo comes in without being tagged. Apolo, Siaki, Young, and Skipper try a convoluted spot that doesn’t work out for them at all. I can’t understand why the referee isn’t even trying to maintain order in the ring. Everybody hits dives to the outside, while Apolo hits Diamond with a superkick inside the ring. Then Apolo does a dive himself. Siaki and Skipper are back in the ring now. Young hits a spinebuster to get the win at 7:07. That was a mess and I’m not really into any of these guys.
Rating: *¼

Mike and Don mention the Preshow match and show a clip of the finish for those who may have missed it. You’d think that this victory would earn Sonjay a shot at the X-Title, but he would never get it. They also show footage from the Raven/Rhino confrontation from earlier. We still don’t know who’s going to face Jarrett tonight, but we do know that Shane Douglas is backstage with him. Jarrett runs through a list of contenders, including Jeff Jarrett, Rhyno, Abyss, Sabu, and Raven. After each name he adds “Screw [Name].” That’s clever. Monty Brown comes out and wants Jarrett to say “Screw Monty” to his face. Monty says he smells fear. He says that he’ll take Jarrett’s title. Jarrett plays damage control and tells Monty to make sure he can beat Lance Hoyt tonight.

MATCH #3: Monty Brown vs. Lance Hoyt

I remember Lance Hoyt. They trade shots in the beginning and Hoyt almost kills Monty with a back body drop or flapjack, I couldn’t tell which. Monty takes control on the floor. Hoyt hits a dive and takes control back in the ring. Hoyt hits the big moonsault but Monty kicks out. Hoyt goes for a cross body block which gets reversed to an Alpha Bomb. Hoyt recovers and hits the Rock Bottom for two. Then Monty comes back and hits the Pounce to get the win at 6:32. That was a fine power match but nothing too special. This would be a good time to put the belt on Monty, if you ask me.
Rating: **½

Global Impact!

We get video footage of Sonjay Dutt, Simon Diamond, and Shark Boy’s recent tour of India. I hear that Sonjay was extremely over there.

We get sent back to Shane Douglas, who’s with The 3Live Kru. Tonight they have to face Team Canada in a six man tag team match. BG James cuts the promo and Kip James comes out and offers his assistance in dealing with Scott D’Amore. BG and Truth are okay with it, but Konnan voices his objections.

MATCH #4: The 3Live Kru vs. Team Canada

Team Canada is represented by Bobby Roode, Eric Young, and A1 tonight, as Petey Williams is in another match later on. The pre-match shtick of 3Live Kru is just ridiculous. I like that Tenay acknowledges when guys have held WWE Championships, like BG James and Kip James did together when they were Road Dogg and Billy Gunn. Konnan dominates everybody and throws his shoe at Eric Young, who sells it awesomely. Kip James is watching the match up on the entrance ramp. 3LK continues to dominate on Roode. He recovers and hits a full-nelson slam for two. The fans chant “New Age Outlaws” as Team Canada takes control of Truth. BG gets the hot tag and beats up everyone. The referee gets distracted and Roode hits BG with a hockey stick, allowing Young to get the pin at 5:59. That wasn’t very good and 3LK looked far too dominant. Team Canada continues to beat down BG and Konnan, inviting Kip into the ring to hit Konnan with a steel chair, but he hits Team Canada instead and runs them off.
Rating: ¾*

Shane Douglas is backstage with Larry Zbyszko. Larry tells Shane that when he figures out who Jeff Jarrett will face later, he will be the first to know.

MATCH #5: Ultimate X Match For #1 Contender to the X Championship – Matt Bentley vs. Petey Williams vs. Chris Sabin

The video package for this match is pretty cool. A quick look at the numbers: this is the eighth Ultimate X match; Sabin has been in five of them prior to this (with a 3-2 record,); Bentley has been in three (2-1); and Williams has been in two (0-2). The video package for this match makes it look like a really big deal, and that makes me happy. The Bentley Bounce is just about the lamest thing ever. The match starts off like a regular three-way before anyone attempts to scale the cables and grab the X. Sabin makes the first attempt but Bentley stops him. Traci grabs Petey by the head and shoves his face into her boobs; meanwhile Bentley is trying to get the X, but Sabin breaks it up. Sabin powerbombs Bentley while they’re both hanging from the cables. That was pretty wicked looking. Williams executes the “Oh Canada!” from a new position, until Bentley tosses him off the top ropes to the floor. Bentley tries to climb up but Sabin tosses him to the floor. Sabin hits a moonsault onto both guys. Sabin goes up for the X and Bentley knocks him down, and the X falls down in the process. But since no one actually grabbed it, they have to re-hang the X. The crowd is extremely unhappy at this point, but no one can be blamed for it really. Bentley and Williams try to reinvigorate the crowd. The crowd chants “use the ladder,” which might have been a good improv idea at this point. The X starts wobbling, so Petey sits under it and waits for it to fall and catches it and the referee awards the match to him at 13:38. The crowd is extremely unhappy, Sabin looks pissed, Bentley and Traci are pissed, and this just didn’t work out at all. It was going along really good before the X kept falling.
Rating: ***

MATCH #6: NWA World Tag Team Title Match – America’s Most Wanted vs. The Naturals

The video package uses footage from Border City Wrestling’s show on September 15, at which AMW turned heel and helped Jeff Jarrett win the NWA World Title from Raven. It also has footage of Gail Kim joining the heel stable, and the beat down and “funeral” for Team 3D. That was a great segment. Finally, they show footage from last night’s Impact, at which AMW regained the tag team titles from the Naturals. The challengers run into the ring right away and attack the champions. Stevens hits a sweet powerbomb on Storm on the guardrail outside the ring. Don West admits he doesn’t know how many times AMW have been champions, which is pretty sad given that he’s the color man, and that sort of thing is his job to know. The Naturals unload on Harris inside the ring so he bails. AMW regroups and goes to work on Douglas, busting him open outside the ring. Harris goes for the powder but it gets kicked into his own face and he nails his partner with the Catatonic. Naturals hit the Death Sentence on Harris, but he somehow kicks out. Harris handcuffs Andy Douglas to the guardrail outside the ring and Stevens is left alone in the ring with the champions. Storm nails Stevens with a bottle while Gail distracted the referee. Death Sentence follows and AMW retains at 10:38. That was a good little tag team match, as I have always been a fan of matches between these two teams. This is the first time AMW successfully defended their titles in a match against The Naturals.
Rating: ***¼

MATCH #7: Monster’s Ball 2 – Abyss vs. Rhino vs. Sabu vs. Jeff Hardy

This should be something. The video package promises a lot of brutality. Shane Douglas is backstage with James Mitchell and Abyss. Mitchell says that the conditions of no food, light, or water for the prior 24 hours are nothing to Abyss, since he was forced to endure those conditions as a child. Sabu is the first one to bleed. Hardy and Abyss pair off on one side of the area while Sabu and Rhino are on the other side. Sabu and Rhino actually wrestled on a WWE pay-per-view earlier in this year, under the banner of ECW. Back in the ring and the weapons start coming into play. Rhino is kicking ass on everyone. Abyss and Hardy are outside the ring fighting with a ladder. Hardy goes to the top of the entrance ramp and hits a huge dive onto Abyss, who was on two tables. That was pretty cool, I’ll give Hardy some credit. Abyss gets back in the ring and tosses Sabu onto a table chest first. Abyss goes for the thumb tacks but Rhino hits a Gore through a table on him instead. Hardy and Rhino are left standing now. Rhino hits the Rhino Driver from the middle rope on Hardy to get the win at 11:47. That was a perfect schmozzy brawl and very enjoyable.
Rating: ***¾

Shane Douglas is backstage with Larry Zbyszko, who has reached a decision about who will face Jeff Jarrett tonight. He says there will be a 10-man over-the-top gauntlet match. The winner will face Jarrett. Douglas takes offense to this idea, since Jarrett has certain rights as champion. Jarrett smells screw job.

MATCH #8: X Division Championship Ironman Match – AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels

This is a rematch from Against All Odds back in February. Daniels wrestling with that thing around his neck looks ridiculous. They bust out the heavy guns right away, with both guys going to for big stuff. AJ hits a really fast looking dive over the guardrail. AJ dominates the first 10 minutes, with Daniels only getting in offense sparingly. Daniels finally locks on the Koji Clutch, but AJ actually powers his way to the ropes. That looked neat. Backwards moonsault is such an oxymoron, and I hate it every time those words escape Don West’s lips. We’re halfway through the match and no decisions yet. Daniels hits a Death Valley Driver for two and the Iconoclasm for two. A Blue Thunder Driver also gets two, as does the BME. There’s less than 10 minutes left and it’s still 0-0. AJ hits the rack bomb for two. Daniels hits a running knee and AJ goes through the ropes and hits the steps on the way down. Daniels follows it up with a big dive. AJ comes back with the Pele kick and a dive of his own. Daniels actually executes a back suplex off the ring apron, and they land with a sick thud. AJ has visible bruises on his left leg. Both men go for flash pins as we’re approaching sub-three minutes. AJ sells Japanese style, wherein he hits a big move before selling the big move he just received. Less than 30 seconds to go and still no pinfalls. Daniels goes for the Angel’s Wings but Styles falls back and they do some awesome reversals that I can’t keep up with but it ends with AJ hitting the Styles Clash with mere seconds to go, and that one pinfall gives him the victory at an even 30:00. The sound guy could have waited an additional two seconds until the match was over to play AJ’s music, but that’s a minor thing. AJ appears to be crying. There’s no crying in wrestling, unless you’re a chick. Anyway, that match was really great in the last 10 minutes or so, and the preceding 20 more than held my interest. It wasn’t quite as good as their first, but pretty close. I hate it when wrestling announcers tell me that if I didn’t like something I don’t have a heart or soul.
Rating: ****

They recap the highlights of the last match, and then show an advertisement for GENESIS, their next pay-per-view.

MATCH #9: 10-Man Gauntlet To Determine The #1 Contender

Samoa Joe is entrant #1. Ron Killings is out at #2. They’ll go for two minutes, and then after that it’s one-minute intervals. Mike and Don don’t know who the other eight guys are going to be. Killings mocks Joe’s dancing, and the crowd boos. Joe kicks Killings’ ass and Sabu is out at #3. Sabu uses the chair and Lance Hoyt is #4. He knocks Joe off his feet with a big boot. Abyss is #5. The crowd gets amped up as Joe and Abyss exchange blows. Jeff Hardy is #6. He’s actually selling the match from earlier. Monty Brown is #7, and he gives Sabu a big Pounce right off the bat. He and Jeff Hardy then eliminate each other, and the crowd boos. I thought Monty really should have won this. Rhino is out at #8. He eliminates Lance Hoyt right away. Kip James is out at #9, and he’s the only guy who hasn’t wrestled before this tonight. It appears as though Sabu has been eliminated. Don West hopes that Raven is going to be #10, but it turns out to be AJ Styles. The crowd is chanting for Joe. Kip James is eliminated when he’s trying to help Killings. He keeps trying to keep Killings in the match, but Joe is able to knock the Truth out. Joe puts the choke on AJ, so Abyss knocks them both out, and mere moments later Rhino knocks Abyss out win the gauntlet at 14:16. That had some okay stuff in it, but was mostly just like any other battle royal. They’re really putting Rhino over strong tonight.
Rating: **¼

MATCH #10: NWA World Heavyweight Title Match – Jeff Jarrett vs. Rhino; Special Referee: Tito Ortiz

Jarrett brings a casket out with him. He gets in the ring and attacks Rhino right away. Rhino is very worn-down and Jarrett is having his way with him. Jarrett comes off the top rope but Rhino catches Jarrett in the chokeslam / kick to the nuts combo. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen that before. Rhino goes for the Gore but Jarrett steps out of the way. Gail Kim goes up to the top rope and gives Ortiz a cross body block but he catches her. She tries to slap him so he dumps her outside the ring. Jarrett gets the guitar and nails Rhino in the face with it. Why would Jarrett still use the guitar? His character is not that of a country singer anymore, and hasn’t been for a long, long time. That only gets two though, so Rhino is still in it. AMW is out now and they give Jarrett another guitar. Ortiz knocks them both down as Rhino is able to Gore Jarrett for the three-count. Jarrett, the selfish prick that he is, sits up after the pin and essentially no-sells Rhino’s finish. That was a pretty bad match, and I wonder why bother putting the title on a guy that it’s obvious there’s no long-term plan for. I think TNA did it to satisfy the fans for Nash’s absence, but I don’t see how it helps really. Rhino is taking a beating from Jarrett and AMW until the 3Live Kru comes out, but Team Canada comes out to give the heels the advantage again. Jarrett and Roode put the casket in the ring. Rhino takes a guitar shot and gets put in the casket as Jarrett stands on it and holds up the NWA Title. Team 3D comes out now and the crowd goes ape shit and the 3LK get up and the babyfaces gain control. Eric Young takes the 3D and goes into the casket. Man alive Bubba Ray looks like he ate a man alive.
Rating: *½

BONUS: Inside the TNA Fan Fest Weekend

This is just some random footage from the TNA Fan Fest, much like WWE Axxess. They get some interviews with fans. The first one is a real idiot. BG James gets in some nasty words about WWE and Vince McMahon in particular. Kip James is such a nice guy.

BONUS MATCH: Ultimate X Rematch – Matt Bentley vs. Petey Williams vs. Chris Sabin, TNA Impact 11.3.05

This is a much needed rematch after the debacle from the pay-per-view. This was on a Prime Time special of Impact, the same show that Jarrett regained the title from Rhino. Petey knocks both men out early and tries to climb, but Sabin dropkicks his head into the metal scaffolding. Bentley then comes in and gives Sabin a superplex. Petey goes after Traci on the floor, so Traci climbs the scaffolding. Bentley comes to her rescue. Sabin goes for the X but Bentley stops him early with a swinging neckbreaker off the top rope. They do some more stuff and take a commercial break and I see this weird screen with some writing on it with what looks like credits for the show. Does everyone else’s copy have that in it? Bentley knocks the X loose again and the crowd chants “please don’t fall” at it. Petey goes up but Sabin hits a sick release German off the top. Everyone starts hitting finishers and Sabin goes up for the X, but Petey hits an inverted atomic drop followed by the Canadian Destroyer. Bentley goes up for the X and D’Amore comes in to stop him but Traci comes in and sticks up for her man. Petey climbs up near the X with Bentley and Petey hits a low blow to knock Bentley down and grab the X for real this time to get a more decisive and conclusive win at 15:13 (total match time including commercial, which was of course edited out). That was pretty good and much better than the PPV, but it feels like most of this has been done before because they’ve booked this match too many times.
Rating: ***½

The 411: This was intended to be TNA’s “WrestleMania,” and it succeeded at that to a point. All of their major stars were there and were being used in the right way. However, there were a few jobber matches on there that could have been scrapped altogether, so that some matches could have gotten more time. Joe versus Liger didn’t break eight minutes, and that is just silly. I’m not sure I would have had Rhino go over three times and win the title, as I was hoping more for Monty Brown or even Samoa Joe (though that would probably be too soon). This is a pretty good show with some really good matches on it, but it didn’t quite achieve the epic status they were seeking.

Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]