TNA Bound For Glory V preview

October 18, 4:24 PMPro Wrestling ExaminerMark Satrang

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Tonight TNA Wrestling presents Bound For Glory V, live from Irvine, California. TNA promotes Bound For Glory as their marquee or flagship pay per view, akin to WWE’s WrestleMania. Because it is TNA’s main show of the year, here is a brief rundown of tonight’s card.

TNA World Heavyweight Championship
AJ Styles (c) v. Sting
Styles and Sting have been battling over the notion of respect for over a year now. The lack of respect Sting felt he got from young guys like Styles is what led to the formation of the Main Event Mafia. Sting is no longer in the Mafia, but that quest for respect still drives Sting to be the best. Now with Styles as Champion he wants to prove he is actually the best by beating a certifiable legend in Sting. TNA has swirled the rumors that if Sting does not win the Championship here then he will retire in order to add even more hype and suspense to the match. But Sting has become The Man at Bound For Glory, winning the World Championship at the past three Bound For Glory pay per views. This match could really go either way, with Styles winning and ushering in new fresh match-ups in the main event while Sting takes a sabbatical. Or Sting could win one more time to further cement his Bound For Glory legacy and then set the seeds in motion for a year long retirement story that could culminate next fall. Either way this main event is rife with the right type of drama.

Wrestling’s Best v. Wrestling’s Future
Matt Morgan v. Kurt Angle
For the past few months Morgan as been trying in vain to join Angle’s Main Event Mafia, only to be used by Angle at every turn. Now Morgan is out on his own and looking to make an impact. Arguably Kurt Angle can be called the best in-ring wrestler in America today. He has been TNA’s centerpiece since he joined the company in late 2006. Matt Morgan is a legit 6’9, 300 pound athlete that TNA has been high on since he joined the company in 2007. He has the look and size and big man talent that wrestling promoters dream about. Morgan is one of TNA’s best hopes to manufacture an honest-to-goodness homegrown main event superstar. Putting him in the ring with a general like Kurt Angle is a great way to introduce him to the main event scene. A win here by Morgan would go a long way in showing the world that TNA is serious about making a new star.

MMA v. TNA – Submission Match
Bobby Lashley v. Samoa Joe
TNA has been incredibly high on Lashley since he joined the company. They have billed him as the first athlete to do both MMA and pro wrestling at the same time (despite Dan Severn doing first in the mid ‘90s). Joe (and to an extent Kurt Angle) have been TNA’s answer to legitimate fighters and athletes up until this point. Now in a battled billed as MMA versus TNA, this submissions match will be a different type of match than what will be on the rest of this card. Joe used to be TNA’s “it” guy, but it looks like he will have to take a backseat to Lashley from this point on.

Monster’s Ball
Special Guest Referee: Dr. Stevie
Mick Foley v. Abyss
The Monster’s Ball is a specialty of TNA Wrestling. It is essentially a basic hardcore match, but the story behind the concept is that all the participants are sequestered for 24 hours before the match with no food, water or sunlight. Thus all the participants’ senses are especially heightened, and they are in an even more vile state of mind. The Monster’s Ball is also considered Abyss’ signature match as he has competed in one at each of the previous Bound For Glory events. Abyss considers himself the premier hardcore wrestler going today, a mantle once carried by Mick Foley himself. This rivalry started when Foley brutally attacked Abyss after a tag match, making Abyss the sympathizer in the bout. But as match has continued to build, it has switched to more of a “passing of the torch” theme where the past hardcore icon meets the present hardcore monster. Expect Foley to try and outdo some of his previous stunts and matches he was a part of in WWE and get Abyss over as a legit threat. The addition of Dr. Stevie as referee doesn’t really add much to the proceedings even though he is a long-time rival of Abyss. Stevie was clearly the second choice when Terry Funk, Mick Foley’s own hardcore wrestling mentor, declined the invitation to be the referee, which would have truly added another dimension to the fun. This match will be bloody and have some crazy spots in it most likely featuring barbed wire, tables, thumbtacks and perhaps even fire.

Full Metal Mayhem for the TNA World Tag Championship
Booker T & Scott Steiner (c) v. Team 3-D (Brother Ray & Brother Devon) v. Beer Money (Robert Roode & James Storm) v. The British Invasion (Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams)
“Full Metal Mayhem” is TNA Wrestling’s attempt to do their own epic TLC match, in which tables, ladders, chairs and chains are all legal. The object of the match is to use the ladders to retrieve the TNA World Tag Titles suspended high above the ring. Team 3-D are no strangers this type of match, as they were a part of the original TLC matches in World Wrestling Entertainment. Booker & Steiner are main-event level veterans who know how to structure a match. Beer Money are always willing to take a risk in order to make an impact. And The British Invasion are constantly learning and evolving. All four teams have been feuding with each for months, and this could be the culmination of their multi-team struggle. This has all the makings of something pure fun in that mindless action sort of way. The winner is definitely not set in stone, but with Booker and Steiner seemingly both on their way out of TNA it doesn’t look good for a successful title defense.

Ultimate X for the TNA X-Division Championship
The Amazing Red (c) v. Suicide v. Homicide v. Daniels v. D’Angelo Dinero
The Ultimate X match is another specialty of TNA Wrestling. Cables are suspended high above the ring, criss-crossing each other to make an “x” pattern. The prize of the match, whether it be a contract or championship, is suspended in the middle of the cables. The competitors must use their athletic feats to navigate the cables and retrieve the prize. The Ultimate X is primarily used for smaller, high-flying competitors in the X-Division. This will be one of the showcases. Homicide, Daniels and the man under the Suicide mask (Frankie Kazarian) are no strangers to the Ultimate X match. Red, while a TNA mainstay, has never competed in this type of contest but is more than qualified to excel in this environment. Dinero is fairly new to TNA but has all the tools necessary to thrive here as well. Expect a highly entertaining and competitive match here that has all the potential to steal the show, regardless of the victor.

TNA Legends Championship
Kevin Nash (c) v. Hernandez v. Eric Young
The story here is that Eric Young has established a mercenary group of foreign stars dubbed World Elite. In their effort expand their rank and file, they attempted to recruit the Mexican star Hernandez. Hernandez rebuked their offers, but his tag team partner Homicide pulled a double-cross and took them up on their offer. Young has vowed to eliminated Hernandez completely, while The Mexican Superman swore revenge on Young, Homicide and the entire World Elite. Young, not wanting to compete with Hernandez one-on-one, hired Nash to join the match-up in an effort to use the double team to their advantage. The Legends Championship is completely superfluous but a win here by Hernandez would continue his momentum on his way up the card in TNA.

TNA Women’s Championship
ODB (c) v. Tara v. The Awesome Kong
The story in this match is a battle of alpha women between Tara and the monstrous Awesome Kong. Both Tara and Kong can be considered two of the biggest and most dominant women wrestlers in North America currently. ODB, while no slouch herself, happens to be the woman currently holding the Championship that stands in their way. Expect either Tara or Kong to walk out as new Champion in order to further their burgeoning rivalry.

TNA Women’s Tag Team Championship
Sarita & Taylor Wilde (c) v. The Beautiful People (Madison Rayne & Velvet Sky)
The TNA Knockout Tag Championships are a new edition to the company. Sarita and Wilde were crowned the first champions at No Surrender, defeating The Beautiful People in the finals of an eight team tournament. With former leader of the People, Angelina Love, out of the company Rayne and Sky have enlisted third generation star Lacey Von Erich to round out their group. This seems like the perfect time for the re-established Beautiful People to come out on top here.