I just rewatched Bound for Glory 2007. Oh man what a great PPV. I hold this up there as TNA's Best PPV to date. I used to think it was Turning Point 2004, but this show finally topped it almost three years later.
The show opens up with an awesome video intro that really sets the tone for the show. The "Darth Vader Guy" (as I like to call him) talks about how every athlete in TNA "Dreams of Being the Next Hulk Hogan, the next Immortal Icon in an Age Old Industry" and then it highlights Kurt Angle, Sting, AJ Styles, Abyss, Christian Cage, & Samoa Joe individually and the show begins!
-OK, throughout the show they have some backstage segments involving Kurt Angle, Karen Angle, Kevin Nash, and Sting and they talk about how Angle crossed the line when he attacked Sting's son and Sting is going to make him pay. These were the only downparts of the show. Its not they were bad, but there were just too many of them.
LAX vs. XXX: Ultimate X for Tag Title Shot
Looking at the card, you really couldn't ask for a better match to open up with. I would go as far to say that this is probably the best opener in TNA history. Lots of crazy spots here, but the real star was Hernandez. In a match that is not designed for people his size, he out shined everybody. But there was some amazing stuff from the other three guys as well. I would put this up there as one of my more favorite Ultimate X Matches and a hell of a way to kick off the show.
Fight For the Right Battle Royal - Participants Include: Robert Roode, Kaz, "Cowboy" James Storm, "Wildcat" Chris Harris, "Showtime" Eric Young, Junior Fatu, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, "Guru" Sonjay Dutt, Petey Williams, Lance Hoyt, Jimmy Rave, BG James, Kip James, Shark Boy, & Havok
Everybody hates the reverse battle royal, and to be honest so do I. Is it really that hard to get into the ring? However, they did something to make me forget it was stupid (Kaz doing the Flux Capacitor to Robert Roode, putting them both in) Once it came down to a regular battle royal, it actually got pretty entertaining with the Guns adding excitmenet, and Fatu playing the big man well. The ending with Roode & Young was good too.
This match turned out much better than I expected. Its filler and cheap way to get everybody on the card, but it wasn't painful to sit through at all. My only knock is that Harris didn't get into the ring, and there fore didn't get into the tournament. I was a big fan of Harris and I felt if anybody was screwed over by the influx of former WWE guys, it was him.
Team Pacman (c) vs. "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles & Tomko: TNA Tag Team Championship
This was another match I didn't expect a whole lot out of, but it turned out to be very entertaining and good. Adam "Pacman" Jones was not allowed to compete thanks to the Tennessee Titans saying he couldn't, so they replaced him with Consequences Creed and made Pacman the manager (which they probably should have done in the first place but whatever)
Since the show was in AJ's homestate of Georgia & the fans just hated Pacman, AJ & Tomko played babyface for this one and it worked well. AJ broke out some moves he hadn't used in a while like the Kick flip off the guy's chest and that amazing Springboard Shooting Star Press. I was also really impressed with Creed here, and I'm glad he's with TNA now.
"Black Machismo" Jay Lethal (c) vs. "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels: X Division Championship
This was arguably the best X Division title match of 2007. It was very good, and I was amazed when I found out the next day that the match only went about 10-11 minutes. That just proves my point that it doesn't need to be a long match in order to be a great match. Lethal had fully won me over by this point, and Daniels is always great so I knew it would be good, but they put on a match that damn near stole the show up to this point. There were some really cool counters and reversals here, and the finish was very cool.
The Steiner Brothers vs. Team 3D: Tables Match
Maybe it was just nostalgia and my love for The Steiner Brothers, but I loved this match. I had one guy tell me that he thought this was the Match of the Night, and to be honest I can see where he's coming from. Some of the table spots were very cool like The Frankensteiner & The Double Team Bulldog, and I loved how they tried to recreate Scott's injury again. It was a wild brawl with some really cool table spots and by the time it was over, I was really marking out so it did its job. Alot of people priased Bound for Glory, but I don't think this match got enough credit for making this show as good as it was.
Knockout's Gauntlet to Crown 1st Womens Champion - Order of Entry: Ms. Brooks, "The Pride of Tennessee" Jackie Moore, Shelly Martinez, Awesome Kong, ODB, Angel Williams, Christy hemme, Gail Kim, Talia Madison, "The Voodoo Queen" Roxxi Laveaux
It really seemed appropriate to have a Gauntlet determine the first Women's Champion. They did it to crown the first World Champion for TNA, and they did it for the Tag Titles when AMW first won it, so this just seemed perfect. The best part of the match was Awesome Kong who just came in and destroyed everybody in her path. Gail Kim, ODB, & Roxxi really got to shine as well. And I hate to spoil the ending for those who haven't seen it, but Gail Kim winning the title was a special moment and one of the highlights of the show. The match was entertaining and it was a good way to introduce some of the new girls to the company, and for those who are watching the show now, we can say that alot of them have come a long way, particularly ODB & The Beautiful People.
"The Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe vs. "The Instant Classic" Christian Cage w/Matt Morgan as Guest Enforcer: There Must Be A Winner
Joe & Christian was probably my favorite series matches in 2007. That had what was probably my favorite World Title Match in TNA history at Destination X & the match at No Surrender was very intense and good. This match was meant to be the end of the feud and it didn't disappoint. Its not as good as the DX match, but its pretty damn close. Joe & Christian just have a natural chesmistry with Joe being the straightforward bad ass and Christian being the chicken shit that tries to get away. and it just makes for great matches. Matt Morgan's involvement worked out very well too as he kept AJ Styles & Tomko from interfering. All in all, this is arguably the best match on the show. It was great!
"The Monster" Abyss vs. "The War Machine" Rhino vs. Black Reign vs. Raven: Monster's Ball IV
I wish they had put Harris & Storm in this match just to continue their feuds with Black Reign & Rhino respectively, while also getting a showdown with each other too, but what can you do? Judas Messias was supposed to be in this match, but got hurt in Mexico and had to be replaced by Raven. That took away from the match a little bit, but overall it was a fun hardcore match. It's probably the weakest Monster's Ball so far, but it was solid, and I like how they played up how Abyss had never won one before, despite the match basically being made for him.
Kurt Angle (c) vs. "The Icon" Sting: TNA World Championship
They did a great job of making Atlanta the perfect setting for this match. The place where Angle won a Gold Medal & where Sting made his career with WCW just seemed like the best possible place for these two to square off.
And what a match it was. This pairing was one that I had never really thought about before, but when the match was pitched I thought "Oh snap! That could be good" Their styles complimented each other very well, and I will never forget Angle's botched 450 Splash where he came down on Sting's midsection with his knees (OUCH!) and Sting not blocking that bat shot from Angle, busting him open in the process, (DOUBLE OUCH!) Some people hated Nash's interference, but I thought it added to the match because it made it seem like Sting had to fight off the world to win. This was a fantastic main event, and a great way to close an already tremendous show.
Final Thoughts
You won't find too many PPVs from TNA that are on par with this one. That's no knock on their other PPVs, because Lord knows TNA has had some amazing ones, but this one was just on another level of awesome. Every match delivered on something. All the matches I wanted to deliver did and in big ways (Sting/Angle, Joe/Christian, Steiners/3D, Lethal/Daniels, LAX/XXX) and matches that I thought would suck turned out much better than expected (Fight for the Right & Tag Title Match) It had a little bit of everything from new stars being showcased, old stars getting to shine, hardcore action, high flying, tag teams, brawling, Women's wrestling, and special moments. It just had EVERYTHING. Just an awesome PPV, and it will be along time before TNA puts on another show as good as this one.
Match Rankings:
1) Angle vs. Sting
2) Joe vs. Christian
3) LAX vs. XXX: Ultimate X
4) Lethal vs. Daniels
5) Steiners vs. 3D: Tables
6) AJ/Tomko vs. Team Pacman
7) Abyss vs. Rhino vs. Reign vs. Raven: Monster's Ball
8) Knockout's Gauntlet
9) Fight for the Right