Csonka’s Impact Bound for Glory 2018 Review

Csonka’s Impact Bound for Glory 2018 Review

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Willie Mack & Rich Swann defeated Matt Sydal & Ethan Page @ 12:40 via pin [***½]
– Eli Drake’s Open Challenge: Eli Drake Defeated James Ellsworth @ 2:10 via pin [NR]
– Knockouts Title Match: Champion Tessa Blanchard defeated Taya Valkyrie @ 10:33 via pin [***½]
– Eddie Edwards defeated Moose @ 0:55 via DQ [NR]
– Tommy Dreamer & Eddie Edwards defeated Moose & Killer Kross @ 8:45 via pin [**½]
– OVE RULES MATCH: oVe (Sami Callihan, Jake, & Dave Crist) defeated Pentagon, Fenix, & Cage @ 13:30 via pin [****]
– CONCRETE JUNGLE DEATH MATCH: LAX defeated The OGz @ 9:33 via pin [**¾]
– Impact World Title Match: Johnny Impact defeated Champion Austin Aries @ 20:45 via pin [****]

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– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

– You can check out my top 36 matches of SEPTEMBER list at this link.

– My Impact Wrestling vs. UK 2018 review is at at this link.

– My Impact Wrestling One Night Only: Bad Intentions 2018 review is at at this link.

– Csonka: 8 Male Talents I Want in Impact Wrestling.

– Csonka’s Impact Bound for Glory 2018 Preview.

Bound For Glory is ONE HOUR AWAY!

Check out to AMAZING cold open to the show narrated by @Ortiz5150 and @SantanaLAX. #BFGCOMDA pic.twitter.com/9Qin1iWWbK

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 14, 2018

Matt Sydal & Ethan Page vs. Rich Swann & Willie Mack: Swann and Sydal to begin. Sydal talks his third eye shit and Swann attacks with kicks. Mack tags in and the crowd loves him. They lock up, work into some passes and Mack hits arm drags and a shoulder tackle. Swann back in and so is Page. Swann picks up the pace and hits a dropkick, and the RANA follows for 1. Page quickly cuts him off with a backdrop and tags in Sydal as they work double teams. Grounds things, tags in Page and more double teams follow. Swann fires back, but Page cuts him off with iconoclasm, covering for 2. Sydal back in and Swann fights back as they brawl to the floor. Page distracts Swann; Sydal hides under the ring and attacks Swann. Mack follows with a tope and wipes out the pile. Back in and Sydal cuts off the tag, grounding Swann. Swann fights to his feet, but Sydal quickly grounds him again. Swann fights them off, but Sydal hits a side slam and tags on Page, who follows with an elbow drop for 2. Swann tries to fight, rolls and tags in Mack. Mack runs wild, and hits a cannonball and XPLODER. The Samoan drop follows and the standing moonsault gets 2. Swann back in and they double team Page and cover for 2. They now take Page up top and Page fights off Mack, and then slams Swann off the ropes and the swanton follows for 2. Sydal back in, Mack makes the save, it breaks down and Sydal hits a RANA, sending Swann into page for a RANA. Mack wipes out Sydal, and they all brawl. Page accidentally kicks Sydal, stunner by Mack but Sydal hits chemical imbalance. Swann hits the head kick and lethal injection. The Phoenix splash follows for the win. Willie Mack & Rich Swann defeated Matt Sydal & Ethan Page @ 12:40 via pin [***½] This was a very good opening match with a great closing stretch. It was the right kind of match to kick things off; Page & Mack both looked really good here.

– Post match, Mack cuts a promo and plays to the crowd. He hypes giving away some front row seats and hypes the sponsor.

– They play up the recent issues between Aries, Impact, & Taya.

– King sent some guys to attack and lay out Konnan backstage.

.@Konnan5150 has been attacked backstage! #BFGCOMDA pic.twitter.com/2tkMBTKKpT

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 15, 2018

Eli Drake’s Open Challenge: This is an open challenge for anyone from NYC, and the crowd chants for Jericho immediately. Drake runs down the NY Giants players in attendance and says the team sucks now. It’s James Ellsworth. Ellsworth cuts a promo, and Drake questions if he’s even from NYC. Claims he dated a girl from Staten Island and lived in her basement. Ellsworth tries to babyface himself, but they chant, “Fuck you Ellsworth.” Drake makes a chin joke and Ellsworth says Drake has no balls. Ellsworth attacks and we’re underway. Drake cuts him off with a flapjack, lays in rights, but Ellsworth hits a flatliner. He fires up as Callis buries him. Drake cuts off the superkick, but Ellsworth connects on the second try for 2. Ellsworth teases a razor’s edge, but Drake hits gravy train and the fans chant for another. He does and wins. Eli drake Defeated James Ellsworth @ 2:10 via pin [NR] If they wanted to babyface Drake, this did the job. As a match, it was no good. Please turn Drake babyface, he’s been ready for months.

– Drake complains about his competition and Abyss arrives. They brawl and Abyss works him over and hits a black hole slam and stands tall. He then gets a table, slides it in and sets it up. Drake low blows Abyss and works him over, but Abyss chokeslams him through the table. That’s a nice thank you moment for Abyss, but does absolutely nothing for Drake.

– Tessa is interviewed about her title match against Taya. She says tonight is her night and will prove that she’s true royalty.

Knockouts Title Match: Champion Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie: Taya has new gear. They lock up, but Taya quickly grounds things and they work into counters as Taya hits a head scissors. They trade ruining forearms, and Taya hits a spear as Tessa powders. Taya heads up top, but Tessa cuts her off and hits a draping neck breaker. Back in and Tessa hits the draping code breaker for 2. Tessa chokes her out and follows with the dropkick in the ropes. Taya fights off the buzz saw DDT and hits a German. Taya works her over in the corner, double knees follows and she takes Tessa up top. She follows and Tessa fights but Taya hits a superplex and rolls into a guillotine. Tessa powers to her feet and slams her to the buckles. The suplex follows, and they trade strikes, lighting each other up and Taya counters the buzz saw and hits a TKO for 2. Taya looks for the Road to Valhalla, but Tessa counters and hits a cutter for 2. Tessa heads up top and jumps into a chokeslam. Taya up top and the moonsault connects for 2. Taya locks on an arm bar, and then transitions for a curb stomp. The STF follows, but Tessa makes the ropes. Tessa grabs the ring skirt, distracting the ref, Taya his Road to Valhalla, and that gets 2 as the ref was distracted. Tessa posts Taya, and the buzz saw gets 2. Tessa is freaked out. Tessa up top, Taya now looks for a powerbomb but Tessa RANAs her to the buckles. the Magnum connects and Taya is finally done. Champion Tessa Blanchard defeated Taya Valkyrie @ 10:33 via pin [***½] This was very good and Taya’s best match in Impact so far. Most times, her matches are slow and lethargic with no sense of urgency, but she was busting her ass here and Tessa delivered once again. This was way better than I had anticipated and was an extremely enjoyable and competitive match with a hot crowd.

Moose vs. Eddie Edwards: A trio of ladies accompany Moose to the ring. Edwards has Kenny the kendo stick with him. They brawl at the bell, but Edwards hit the Boston knee party and goes for Kenny but Kross attacks for the DQ. Eddie Edwards defeated Moose @ 0:55 via DQ [NR] BLAH

– Tommy Dreamer makes the save and we have a tag match.

Moose & Killer Kross vs. Tommy Dreamer & Eddie Edwards: Edwards and Dreamer run wild as they brawl on the floor. Back in and Moose and Dreamer trade strikes, and Dreamer hits a running cross body as Kross & Edwards enter the ring and brawl. Dreamer & Edwards fight of Kross and work over Moose. Dreamer peels up the padding on the floor, but Kross posts him. Moose dropkicks Edwards to the floor. One of the NY Giants shoves Moose, allowing Edwards to fight back and hit a suplex on the floor. Edwards now works over Kross, lays in chops and follows with an enziguri, heads up top and the RANA follows. Moose makes the save, levels Dreamer, and Moose and Edwards trade chops. Moose hits a bicycle kick, Edwards follows with superkicks and the blue thunder bomb. Everyone is down. Dreamer low blows Kross, and follows with a cutter. He gets the kendo and Kross cuts him off, hits the Saito. Edwards dumps him, but Moose hits the powerbomb. Moose gets the kendo, but Edwards rolls him up for the win. Tommy Dreamer & Eddie Edwards defeated Moose & Killer Kross @ 8:45 via pin [**½] I hate that they dropped the original match and further hate that they replaced it with a big brawl style match when we still have two of those to come. This was highly questionable booking. It was fine, but the cameras missed a few things, which took away from it. You almost have to admire Tommy Dreamer continually finding his way onto PPV in 2018.

– Post match, Kross and Moose beat down Eddie and apron bomb him, immediately getting their heat back and making the result basically mean nothing.

OVE RULES MATCH: oVe (Sami Callihan, Jake, & Dave Crist) vs. Pentagon, Fenix, & Cage: This is oVe rules, which means no rules. Cage’s left thigh is heavily taped up. They immediately brawl at the bell as it breaks down. Pentagon and Sami trade, sling blade by Pentagon and another follows. Dave cuts him off, hits a backstabber, and Cage cuts him off and turns him inside out with a suplex and Jake is in and Cage catches him but Jake slips out and posts Cage. Fenix in and hits aback handspring head butt and another. Fenix then springboards in with a high cross. Sami cuts him off and clotheslines him to the floor. They all spill to the floor, Cage cuts off a RANA and apron bombs Sami but Jake posts him. Superkicks by the Luchas on Dave, and Fenix follows with a suicide dive, Jake superkicks Pentagon, but Cage tosses Jake onto the pile on the floor. Cage now works over Dave, they work up top but Sami powerbombs cage. The Luchas cut him off, and work double teams on oVe. Fenix to the floor, favoring his leg. He’s ok, is back in and runs into a DVD. Jake attacks Pentagon, they work up top and Pentagon cuts him off and hits the hanging double stomp. Dave cuts him off and covers for 2. Cage powerbombs Dave, Sami cuts him off and Fenix flies in with a cutter from the ramp for 2. Jake lays into him with kicks, Pentagon in and hits the penta driver for 2 as Dave makes the save. It breaks down into he big move buffet, buckle bomb by Cage, double stomp package piledriver from the Luchas, but the Crists break that up. Cage takes them both out at the same time with a fall away slam/Samoan drop combo. Sami attacks the bad leg of Cage with superkicks and hits a flatliner but the luchas make the save. They isolate Dave, Pentagon lays in chops, and Fenix follows with kicks, code breaker from Pentagon and Jake cuts off Fenix with a doomsday cutter. Sami takes out Fenix, stropping the double stomp package piledriver combo, and then hits a Cactus driver on Pentagon on the apron. Cage is back and is fired up. He tosses Jake around, hits clotheslines on Sami & Dave, and then eats a flurry of kicks. oVe hits the all seeing eye and Cage kicks out at 1. They all hit superkicks, cage roars up and after about 30 kicks is down. Sami hits the Cactus driver for the win. oVe (Sami Callihan, Jake, & Dave Crist) defeated Pentagon, Fenix, & Cage @ 13:30 via pin [****] This was a great car crash style sprint, with Cage looking strong before losing, which should set up Sami as a challenger for his title.

– Aries cuts promo about rebuilding the company as a great world champion and runs down Impact for his lazy schedule. Aries doesn’t trust management and says his guys will be at ringside tonight and tells Impact to bring his wife so that she can watch him be exposed.

– The OGz celebrate Konnan’s “accident,” and say the young boys will learn their lesson tonight.

– Bodega Bamz and his group play LAX to the ring.

CONCRETE JUNGLE DEATH MATCH: LAX (Santana, Ortiz, & Konnan) vs. The OGz (Homicide, Hernandez, & King): The canvas and buckles are gone and anything goes. It’s 3 on 2 as Konnan was taken out earlier in the evening. They brawl at the bell and the boards are already coming loose. This looks like a bad plan. King hits a uranage as the rest brawl on the floor. Ortiz back in and cuts off King, ands then works over Hernandez and Cide. Hernandez cuts him off with a head butt and he’s already busted open as the OGz work over Ortiz. They bring in tables, set them up in the corners and isolate Ortiz before tossing him. King goes for a suicide dive but eats the barricade. Hernandez now tosses Cide over the ropes and onto LAX. Ortiz makes the comeback, hitting a suplex, and Hernandez pounces him through a table. Santana back in and he takes Hernandez to the floor. The tope follows. Santana says he’s going to kill a motherfucker, King calls him a bitch and rakes his eyes but Santana suplexes him to the buckles. Hernandez up top, but LASX superplexes him and all three are down. King and Ortiz trade strikes and Konnan is alive and makes his way out. He low blows Cide, black jack on Hernandez and attacks King. Konnan whips him through the table and the street sweeper finishes King. LAX defeated The OGz @ 9:33 via pin [**¾] What seemed like a creative idea turned into an almost dangerous match as the boards kept on moving and really limited the overall action. This couldn’t come close to the Slammiversary match, but at least the right team won. They worked really hard and tried, but this was a perfect example of a stipulation taking away from a match.

Allie vs. Su Yung IN THE UNDEAD REALM: Allie is in full Buffy mode here and enters the coffin, leading to the undead realm. Jim Mitchell is there and says that he kept his promise, and says Yung has Kiera trapped there. Mitchell says her soul has to stay here. Allie goes on her hunt and an undead bridesmaid is seen and attacks. Allie knocks her out with an axe, and then kills her with full blood splatter effect. She finds another and KILLS HER. Allie finds herself/her soul. Allie finds a coffin with Kiera in it. Yung is there and has an axe and they brawl. Yung beats her down, and looks to kill her, but Allie fights back only for Yung to get the mandible claw. Allie then kills her by stabbing her. Allie saves Kiera, but they can’t escape. Mitchell says he promised to get her in but not out. More bridesmaids appear but Rosemary is back and fights them all off. She tells them to go and opens the coffin for them, but Allie doesn’t want to leave without her. Yung is still alive and Rosemary stays to light her off with mystical electric powers. Yung and the undead bridesmaids engulf Rosemary as Kiera & Allie escape. Allie snaps at Kiera, telling her that it’s not ok. I really like wacky shit and Lucha Underground, but part of that love comes from the fact that they have created an entire universe where that’s the norm and it works. This felt jarring and out of place, and for me, just wasn’t good.

– In January…

They say you can't go home again? We disagree!

We're delighted to announce our return to where it all began – The Asylum in Nashville, TN on January 6th for our next live PPV event Homecoming. pic.twitter.com/InunQhnxb9

— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 15, 2018

– Impact cuts a promo, calling Aries an asshole, and saying he’s taking the title.

Impact World Title Match: Champion Austin Aries vs. Johnny Impact: Taya, Moose, & Kross are all at ringside. They aggressively lock up and Aries looks for a guillotine and Impact makes the ropes. Aries attacks with leg kicks, they lock up and work to the ropes. Impact grounds things, looking to choke out Aries. I like the aggression to begin. Aries hits a head butt and lays in strikes, Impact fires back and they lock up and work to the ropes. Impact follows with nee strikes and dumps Aries. The plancha follows and he then whips Aries to he barricade until Aries posts him. Impact battles back and hits a split between the ring and barricade into a moonsault press. That was fucking creative. Back in and Aries cuts off the springboard and knocks Aries to the floor. Aries follows with the double axe handle to the floor, rolls him back in and follows with knee drops and covers for 2. Impact fires back with strikes, but Aries follows with repeated knee strikes to cut that off. Aries takes a moment to chill in the corner, they trade strikes, Impact lays in a flurry in the corner but Aries cuts off the disaster kick but Impact cuts of the suicide dive. The springboard high cross follows and that gets 2. They trade elbows, Aries gets last chancery, but Impact makes the ropes. They trade knee strikes, Impact follows with kicks, and hits the disaster kick and that gets 2. Both men are down, and they start treading strikes again. Impact takes Aries up top and follows him up. Aries fights off a Spanish fly, hits a RANA and then runs into a big boot from Impact. Aries avoids starship pain and hits a neck breaker in the ropes. Aries up top and Impact cuts him off, lays in rights and follows him up. Impact hits the Spanish fly and the cover gets 2. Impact back up top and rolls through on the countdown to Impact. Impact knocks him to the apron, Aries fights off the suplex and pulls Impact to the apron and hits a sick looking apron DVD. Back in, Aries up top and the 450 connects and that gets 2. Aries is pissed. Aries now lays in rights, and the corner dropkick is cut off and Impact hits a pair of superkicks. Starship pain connects and that gets a great near fall as Aries makes the ropes. Impact teases a brainbuster, Aries counters and hits a roiling elbow and corner dropkick; the brainbuster gets 2 as Impact makes the ropes. Impact gets a backslide for 2, Aries follows with knees and last chancery. Impact fights, crawls, and makes the ropes. They trade slaps and strikes, and Aries suicide dives Taya! Impact attacks, and beats down Aries on the floor. Back in, and Aries rolls him up for 2. Kicks by Impact, the brainbuster connects and starship pain connects and that is enough for the win. Johnny Impact defeated Champion Austin Aries @ 20:45 via pin [****] This was a great main event match that did a good job of playing off of the recent angel that made things personal, I only wish they had made that part of it sooner. They worked a different match than you’d expect normally, filled with snug and tight work and a ton of aggression. They did a great job of making this not feel like a regular Aries or Impact match, and the change in tone was appreciated. Overall, great stuff with the right man winning.

– Aries got right up and walked out (I really hope that they aren’t about to pull some Russo bullshit here). Impact checks on Taya as they celebrate post match.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

While not the homerun that Slammiversary was, I felt that Bound for Glory 2018 was a good show overall. The undead realm stuff ended up a big miss as was the concrete jungle match, and I hated the bait and switch on the Moose/Edwards match. I also feel that they are relying too much on multi-man tag brawls. But I can’t deny that there was some very good to great wrestling on the show with the opener, knockouts, oVe, and main event matches. Plus we got Sami vs. Cage set up as well as a new champion.