Wrestling’s 4R’s Special Edition 9.19.07: The TNA Bound for Glory Card

Introduction:
Hello there children, I hope that we are all doing well today. I am rather good myself, but then again I wrote this on Saturday so when you actually read this I may feel entirely different. That all being said, I have decided to use the R’s format for something other than breaking down a show. Now, what I will do with this is to do a preview breakdown of the TNA Bound for Glory Card. Why you may be asking? Well, because some people have blindly slammed the card, some people have blindly praised the card, some are in protest that Joe is not in the main event while others are throwing parties for that fact. But I personally think that most are missing the boat on the card, so I decided to weigh in on it since it has just been released. Sit back and relax, this should be fun. Before we begin though, here’s the explanation of the R’s, just incase you are new to the party.

How the 4R’s of wRestling Work!

Here is a quick explanation of the 4R’s. I will take the 4 main shows (5 if I go RetRo) of the week: TNA Impact, WWE Raw, ECW on Sci-Fi and WWE Smackdown. If we have a PPV, that show will get a special PPV edition of the R’s all to its own. I then group my feelings on the shows in various categories: The Right, the wRong and the Ridiculous. The Right is stuff that worked very well: a great promo, a great match and so on. PuRgatoRy is a section between the right and wrong. It shows equal traits from both sides that cannot be ignored and need discussed. It is not a bad place per say, as things can get remedied or go the wrong way the very next week. The wRong is what it sounds like: bad matches, bad or boring promos and so on. The Ridiculous is stuff that had no right on TV: Stupid angles, Diva searches and so on. And there is always a possibility of a 5th R, which is as bad as they come. This column is supposed to be analytical, and at the right time very critical of the shows, it was the whole reason it was created. This is not a “mark” column, nor a “smark” column, I cannot speak for Geoff, but my goal is to analyze the show from many different fronts, reward the good and call out the bad. There are also occasions where I will bring out a 4th, 5th or even a 6th R to the column, so beware of those~! I will not apologize for my opinions, they are as they are, whether very positive or negative.

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The TNA Bound for Glory 2007 Cardsize=36>

TNA’s Bound for Glory Preview

The Right:

Samoa Joe vs. Christian Cage w/Special Referee Matt Morgan – At TNA’s Destination X PPV Samoa Joe faced off with Christian Cage for the then NWA Title. Many people thought that this would be Joe’s chance, and that he would win the title. They had a damn good match, and in the end Joe locked in the choke; but Cage rolled back, got the ropes and scored the devious pin fall victory. After Samoa Joe’s horrifying defeat to Angle, he and Christian saw each other an enemies again as they tried to both claim the #1 contender’s spot. On the way to No Surrender Christian not only beat down Joe, but a member of his family from the dance tribe, enraging Joe. The two men met at No Surrender in again another very good match, which Joe dominated through anger and rage. Joe would get the choke on Cage and was set to take the win. Cage would get the ropes and Joe refused the break. The ref grabbed Joe’s hair to pull him off, Joe Samoan Dropped him and put the hold back on Cage. Security came out and got beat down, finally another ref and Joe was DQ’d for not following the rules! The end I am actually ok with. When this feud began I pretty much knew Joe wouldn’t be getting the title shot at BFG, and that they were going a new direction with perhaps an overhaul of Joe as a character. This was not a DQ for the sake of a DQ, this was done to make Joe into a bad ass that doesn’t care about the authority figures. He destroyed refs, security, stood toe to toe with Morgan and told Cornette to fuck off. Cage is now pissed at Cornette, Morgan and Joe. He tried to take down the big man on Impact, but with the help of Joe was run off. These two men will now face for a third time and there MUST be a winner, and that is why Morgan has been added to the bout, as a special enforcer. The build is all there; the guys have the tools, now they just need to deliver once again.

TABLES MATCH: Team 3D vs. Rick and Scott Steiner – I have to say I am very much looking forward to this match. This feud as a whole has been one of the best of the year for TNA or anywhere, and considering Rock and Scott are in their 40’s and Rick has been very limited in these last years, that is saying something. The match interaction has been good, but the promos are what have carried it up until a few weeks ago. As the Steiner’s looked to have Kurt Angle dead to rights, 3D cost them the match and then things stepped up. Rick was beaten down and then ate a super bomb through a table, something I never thought I would see him take at this age and stage of his career. They followed up excellently the next week as Scott came to the ring for vengeance, by himself and charged into battle. He too got beaten down, super bombed and then 3D went after the injured throat of Scott Steiner. 3D has declared the Steiner’s dead and gone, but they will be back at Bound for Glory and they will go at it in a tables match. This not only makes sense, but it also has a chance to be a fine match as they will have all the advantages of the gimmick, and that is a good thing. 3D has been motivated, Scott has been very motivated and this is good stuff.

TNA TITLE MATCH: Kurt Angle © vs. Sting – While a lot of people seem let down by this main event, mainly because Joe isn’t involved, but from a business standpoint this is probably the best main event that TNA can put on simply because it involves the two biggest names in the company. They are also guys with a track record of being able to draw, albeit not in TNA thus far. With TNA moving to two hours and the company getting more exposure, these are names that people know. You have Kurt Angle, won the Gold Medal in Atlanta in 1996 facing the ICON known as Sting, who spent 99% of his career in WCW, which was based out of Atlanta. The angle to get here is total Russo Sportz Entertainment, but now that the match is set they have four weeks to give it a proper build. Sting has had a great run with TNA in the last 18+ months, almost transforming himself into a Terry Funk like performer. What I mean by that is that when Funk went to ECW he transformed himself and did things you never thought you would see his do, and Sting has done that in TNA. The feud with Abyss is evidence enough. Angle has been on a crusade as of late, arguing with Jarrett and Mantell about there being too much shit and cute finishes in TNA matches. Angle wants to go out there and tell a story, lie he did against Lethal and Abyss at No Surrender. Of he gets his way again and Sting has his working boots on, this could be a damn fine match. Add a hot Atlanta crowd to the mix and it should be a pretty damn cool atmosphere. Sure one could argue that TNA needs to be making stars and they do, but I see nothing wrong with trying to draw a bigger live and PPV crowd with proven entities.

puRgatory:

TNA X-DIVISION TITLE MATCH: Black Machismo © vs. Christopher Daniels – You know I am rather torn on this match. First of all it just doesn’t come off to me as a big time title match. Don’t get me wrong, Lethal has been doing great and Daniels is awesome, but I just don’t have a great excitement for the match. This is most likely due to their previous TV matches being good but nothing special. Speaking of TV matches, I felt that it was a horrible move to have Daniels pin Lethal clean the show right after he defeated Kurt Angle CLEAN. I felt that they had the back story, and a short defense by lethal against say Elix Skipper, followed by the XXX beat down could heave been a better tool to build this match. The god news is that Lethal has been on for his PPV matches lately, and Daniels always delivers on PPV. So I feel that the match will be good, and if booked right and given the right amount of time, it could be great.

ULTIMATE X: LAX vs. XXX – If TNA has created one match that I always get psyched up for, it is the Ultimate X match. There have been some tremendous Ultimate X matches in the past, some crazy spots, blood letting, and in the end pure excitement. LAX has been in a great Ultimate X match with AJ and Daniels last year, which we should all remember for Christopher Daniels death defying dive off the top of the trusses to the middle of the ropes to grab the titles. Senshi and Elix have both been a part of numerous Ultimate X matches, so all four men had experience. That all being said, I just want to know WHY are they having an Ultimate X match? They have no beef, they haven’t been feuding, so therefore I see no need for a feud-culminating match like Ultimate X here. Oh wait, I see what they are doing, since it is their biggest show of the year they want to throw out their most innovative and high spot driven gimmick match. I see now. I guess that they forgot the Ultimate X match we just had with 10-guys at Victory Road. I am sure they will try and build a feud during the next 4-weeks, and I think that they can do a good job, but it really makes no sense to have the match. I am sure it will be awesome, but it makes no sense.

Monster’s Ball – This match is expected for the show, although no one has been announced for it as of this writing. One would have to assume that Abyss, Judas Mesia, Rhino, James Storm, Chris Harris and Black Reign are all possibilities for the bout, but it will likely be Abyss vs. Mesias vs. Rhino. While I am a huge fan of the Monster’s Ball and believe that it should be on the show because it usually delivers, it becomes the 9th match on the card, and we will run into problems as we did at Slammiversary with there being to many matches, with matches that need time not getting the proper time. It is frustrating because instead of the cluster battle royal I would rather have the cluster hardcore brawl. All of the men have an issue and it would be better. Although Abyss vs. Mesias should have a singles match first, I see Rhino being here to be the PPV bitch again. It is all so confusing. We will discuss this later, but this is yet another reason that the Reverse battle royal shit does not need to be on the show.

The Wrong:

TNA TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Ron Killings & Pacman Jones vs. AJ Styles & Tomko – We now move onto the wrong, and the first one I shall discuss is that of the TNA Tag Team Title match. This is not good on many levels. First of all, I am not fan of Pacman Jones or TNA bringing him into the promotion. He had done nothing for TV Ratings, by all early estimates he has done nothing for PPV business and as far as “mainstream attention,” they got some blurbs and an appearance or two, which all mocked the company, called them the “Arena League of Wrestling Companies” and that it was a step down for JONES to be involved with. So let’s see, no ratings, no buy rates and negative media publicity; sure he deserves to be one of the top paid guys in the company and one half of the tag team champions. OH WAIT! HE CANNOT EVEN WRESTLE! How the hell did I forget that one? So you have Ron Killings, who will do all the work and while I like Ron Killings, this will not work well. AJ and Tomko have been busting their asses, yes I say Tomko as well, I have had no issues with him in TNA, and he has worked hard. I think that they should win the titles so that we can abort this horrible deal. Some will say that since Jones is from Atlanta, he will help with ticket sales. Even if he does sell a lot of tickets, that cannot justify the no ratings or PPV boost for his pay. Finally, we have to add into this that the match is a HEEL vs. HEEL match. Normally I would say that AJ and Tomko would be cheered at the PPV, but in Atlanta; where they love their criminals, Jones will probably be the face.

TNA Women’s Title Gauntlet Battle Royal Match – I know that some will be a bit shocked at this being placed in the wrong since I have been a big supporter of TNA doing a full out women’s division with a title. That being said I believe that they are kicking this off the wrong way. First of all they just had a gauntlet match on the last show, so this comes off as repetitive booking to me. Second of all there is already a Reverse Battle Bullshit match on the show, once again looking like repetitive booking. Thirdly is how they have billed the match, “Participants: Christy Hemme, Gail Kim, Ms. Brooks, Jackie Moore, Roxxy Laveaux, & Five Others.” “And five others.” That is a MAJOR problem I have with this. They will be debuting these 5-women COLD on PPV, no hype, no introductions to the audience, and most importantly they will not be giving people a chance to care about them, which leads to no heat, which leads to people not reacting which leads to this coming off poorly on PPV. When you start your wrestling career, most people debut and work battle royals, because you’re a job guy and battle royals are for goofs. Last month they debuted Jimmy Rave in the gauntlet, and he looked like a goof, there was no reason to care for him. This is doomed from the beginning. Also, I don’t like when titles are awarded in battle royal type matches. Sure there are exceptions to the rule, (Rumble 1992) but that is an exception. I do like how TNA does their gauntlets, coming down to the final two and then they have a regular match, but 9 times out of 10 they only go 3-minutes or so. In this case I would actually prefer that they do the match on Impact and then have the final two face off on PPV in a match. It makes more sense and you have a chance to push both finalists. Or better yet have some singles matches and debut some ladies, then do a tournament. I suppose I got my hopes up there. It should be interesting who the other five ladies will be. They could be different and grab some very talented ladies, but I have a feeling that we will get Ariel and Nidia. But I hope we get ladies like:

“The Queen Diva” Angel Williams

Rebecca Knox

Cheerleader Melissa

Shantell Taylor

Dark Angel Sarah Stock

Amber O’Neal

Rumor has it that the five women coming in will be ODB, Angel Williams, Talia Madison, Shelly Martinez and Amazing Kong. I don’t have many complaints at all, I just hope that they get to appear on the next tapings to get exposure before the PPV, otherwise as mentioned they will be coming in cold, and it will not be good.

The Ridiculous:

The Fight for the Right 15-Man Reverse Battle Royal – File this under the very worst of TNA. This is just a bad idea for a lot of reasons. First of all they just had a gauntlet match on the last show, so this comes off as repetitive booking to me. Second of all there is already a Women’s Gauntlet match on the show, once again looking like repetitive booking. Thirdly this is one of those “get everyone on the show” matches, which is bullshit. You shouldn’t focus on trying to get everyone on the card so that no one’s feelings are hurt, you put the people on the card that give you the chance to sell the most PPV buys, a match like this doesn’t do that. And now I need to move onto point four, and that is the fact that the first reverse battle royal was not only voted the worst match of 2006, but was possibly one of the worst matches in TNA history. IN THE COMPANY’S HISTORY! So the brain trust in TNA has decided that since they are getting two hours and that since THIS show will be the biggest show of all time, that they would throw a pile of shit like this onto the show. Seriously TNA, really, THA FUCK? So they are doing the reverse battle royal, they will start with 15-guys around ringside, battling to get into the ring like a bunch of goofs, what’s next a get your gear on first match? If this is like last time, once 8 or so guys get into the ring, they haven’t been very specific here, they will fight until they get down to four men. “The Final Four Will Complete For TNA Title Match.” It says. Now, another issues is that the rules are not explained well. Will it break down into a 4-way match here, will they move onto Impact and what breaks down to a semi-final and finals match? I doubt that TNA even knows. I know one thing; this match will sell…

The Conclusion:
I truly think that Bound for Glory could end up being a very good show. Two of the three title matches should be very good, Ultimate X will be good with the possibility of being great, the tables match should be good since they have worked well together and Cage and Joe, if not overbooked, should deliver yet again. I also have high hopes for the Monster’s Ball match, depending on who’s all involved. It will be interesting to see where these matches fall after the PPV when I do the PPV review in the R’s format. I could see the things I put in purgatory, for their concept, into the right very easily but we’ll have to see. Bound for Glory is October 14th, so come back October 16th to see how the end to this story plays out.

WWE UNFORGIVEN PODCAST~!

We are back for another podcast adventure! Christi tries to take over the show as we look at the WWE Unforgiven PPV, another bad PPV from WWE with average matches, a dead crowd, another DQ Title match finish and Batista and Khali having the best match of the night. You read that right. We move onto Dear Christi and discuss going to live wrestling shows, women’s wrestling, women’s MMA and much more! We also muse on the glory of the XBOX 360 and Star Wars LEGO~! An hour of fun just for you!

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