Bound For Glory Preshow:- Tag Match, The Motor City Machine Guns vs Lethal Consequences - Introduced as having a 15 minute time limit (possibly taking up half the preshow then) & that the winners get to take part in the Ultimate X match on the PPV. Consequences Creed & Alex Shelley kicked this off quite well but I have to say Creed has got to start being less obvious about his thigh slaps that ape impact shots as we blatantly saw him do it twice in the space of a few seconds & neither time did he attempt to hide the fact he was slapping his thigh rather than kicking his opponant. This had a fairly dull middle but the last few minutes were pretty decent with Shelley nailing a great Springboard Tornado DDT on Lethal but the eventual win came when Shelley hit a Flying Cross Body Block off the top turnbuckle on Creed so Sabin & Shelley qualify for the Ultimate X match later tonight.
Bound For Glory V PPV
Ultimate X Match for the X Division Championship, Chris Sabin vs Alex Shelley vs Suicide vs Homicide vs Daniels vs Amazing Red - D'Angelo Dinero had travelled to the PPV & was due to appear in this match but had "family problems" which meant TNA did Creative on the fly turning the preshow tag match into a qualifying match for this bout to replace Dinero and then some.
This was a good match, Red hit a Hurricanrana on Daniels off the top turnbuckle taking him to the ground. I'm pretty sure Suicide hurt himself taking Homicide off the ropes as he took a hard nasty looking landing, Red was a bit too obvious in his signals to both Suicide & Daniels to get them to come to him to perform spots though. It was also pretty obvious when Daniels checked Sabin was ready before nailing him with the BME, both Daniels & Suicide took a long fall that sent one of the refs in to check on them before Amazing Red unhooked the belt to retain his X Division Title.
Knockout Tagteam Championship, The Beautiful People (with Lacey Von Erich) vs Taylor Wilde & Sarita - Von Erich kissed the ref to bribe him to let her stay ringside which brought out Senior Offical Earl Hebner, Von Erich tried the same trick on him but he still sent her back to the locker room. To be honest this was quick (a bit TOO quick) with almost no spots to speak of with Sarita nailing the Dropkick on Rayne allowing Wilde to hit the Bridging Suplex to take the win & retain their titles. I get the feeling Rayne may have bashed Wilde in the nose with the back of her head as Wilde was holding her nose after the match.
3 Way Match for the Legends Championship, Hernandez vs Eric Young vs Kevin Nash - To be honest all we figured this match was going to focus on was the bad blood between Super Mex & Young, as Young had offered Nash money it looked like they were going to try & double team Hernandez but he managed to floor Nash & sent Young to the ground. Nash was sent into a ringpost putting him out but not for long, Hernandez spent a large amount of this match on the receiving end of a beatdown but I wondered how long it would be before Young tried to screw Nash over.
Predictably enough Young called for Nash to hit the Jack Knife Powerbomb but once Hernandez was in position Young used him as a battering ram to floor Nash then hooked his leg to take the win & Eric Young is the new Legends Champion. I did wonder where the blood on the canvas had come from but it turned out it was from Hernandez as it was all over his cheek & lips.
Full Metal Mayhem Tag Team Championship, Booker T & Scott Steiner vs Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams vs Beer Money vs Team 3D - Both TNA Tag titles & the IWGP belts were on the line but the stipulation stated the winners can only win 1 set of titles, which ever belt the winner grabs is the title they will win. Tables, ladders & chairs are all legal and this kicked off with The British Invasion & Storm jumping Devon as the MEM & Roode jumped Ray.
In the last few weeks rumours have circulated that Booker is allowing his contract to expire so he can return to WWE so this may be his final TNA PPV appearance, it was also rumoured that the IWGP bigwigs had been unhappy when The British Invasion had won their titles in a match that was unsanctioned by them so the prediction here was that Team 3D were going to win the IWGP titles back again. Taz was quite right to call out Booker on a badly executed Spinebuster on Storm so it looked like Booker was pretty much going to phone this match in as far as he was concerned but it was clear the camera van had been told to take no shit so they cut away when Booker did the Spinaroonie to focus on Steiner choking Devon with an electrical cable.
I'm not sure if Beer Money were shooting when they nailed Booker with the DWI but he spent a while outside the ring as Steiner hit an excellent Frankensteiner on Doug Williams who totally sold it, it could have been a work as Sharmell came out to check on him & a couple of refs were milling around him on the ground & EMS took him off on a gurney. Team 3D came in to cover the gaps levelling pretty much everyone as Devon put Williams through a table, 3 more tables were put up & Team 3D hit stereo Chokeslams driving both of Beer Money through a table each.
Steiner levelled Ray & Devon with a chairshot each then again with a ladder but he was sent into the 3rd table with an assist from Team 3D, Devon went up the ladder to grab the IWGP belt as Rhino ran in to nail Ray with a chair then knocked Devon off the ladder but not before Devon had got the IWGP belt so Team 3D are new IWGP Heavyweight Tag Champions again.
I'm not exactly sure why the match didn't end there (the introductions should have made it MUCH clearer that both titles HAD to be won) but Beer Money were left fighting with The British Invasion & they double Suplexed Doug Williams off the top of 2 ladders, Storm spat beer into the face of Magnus before hitting him with a Hurricanrana taking Magnus off the ladder the hard way. Storm had floored Williams again when Big Rob ran in before throwing Roode out of the ring through a table (which he totally overshot with a VERY bad very hard landing causing the ref to go check on him right away) which allowed Doug Williams to grab the last belt & The British Invasion are the new TNA Tag Champions. I'm pretty sure Robert Roode will be pretty badly injured from his fall and it looked like Doug Williams was also injured as he was barely able to stand without support, possibly with a concussion.
3 Way Match for the Knockouts Championship, Awesome Kong vs Tara vs ODB - It was clear from the get go this wasn't going to be pretty with Kong jumping Tara then ODB right at the bell but Tara & ODB had a quick double team that was soon halted by Kong. Kong tried a Splash on them both but catching nothing but canvas so Tara & ODB teamed up again hitting a double Shoulder Charge followed by a Double Suplex which I was amazed to see Kong actually selling.
Obviously neither Tara or ODB were going to let each other cover Kong so they traded blows before Tara tried a Cross Body Block that ODB caught turning it into a rather sloppy looking Fall Away Slam, Tara made a nice Tarantula Stretch but Kong broke it up. Tara made a decent Reverse Moonsault into Kong & ODB for a near fall then was sent to the floor by Kong for her trouble (who the hell was that woman Tara was facing off with by the guard rail in the crowd? It clearly wasn't a work as the match actually stopped for a moment as ODB, Kong & the ref were checking out what was going on - A quick Google says it was MMA fighter Kim Couture, apparently they claimed the spot WAS a work made to look like a shoot but its funny how no-one in the ring knew anything about it nor did the colour guys so I call BULLS**T on it being a work).
Tara had bailed on the match and ODB kept trying to lift Kong which she did manage eventually, Tara did return barely breaking a 3 count after ODB was nailed with a Splash. ODB took an Implant Buster then Raisha Saeed came out & threw a chair into the ring which Kong kicked away twice, ODB had been taken up for another Implant Buster which she reversed into a DDT as Saeed had pushed the chair back so Kong landed on the chair allowing ODB to hook the leg and retain her title. I guess this is the start of Saeed & Kong breaking up then so we can finally see more of Alissa Flash with the hopeful "departure" of Saeed?
Submission Match, Samoa Joe vs Bobby Lashley - With a 15 minute time limit so we don't get bored? This was too slow & VERY dull Lashley made a Legsweep to take Joe down & had him in a Side Headlock when Earl Hebner called for the bell awarding the win to Lashley (and it was unclear why as Joe hadn't visibly tapped out), I assume Hebner had decided Joe wasn't concious (his eyes were rolling like crazy post match) hence Lashley getting the win.
Monsters Ball Match, Abyss vs Mick Foley - With Special Guest Referee Dr. Stevie, the stipulations were CLEARLY announced as "No DQ & ANYTHING goes" despite the fact that Foley had banned Abyss from using thumbtacks so clearly someone hadn't told the ring announcer making TNA look like complete c**ts. Foley jumped Abyss on the ramp with his barbed wire baseball bat so he was never introduced.
Abyss had bladed (after Foley used the barbed wire baseball bat on his head) & it was pretty clear from the barbed wire boards around the ring that Abyss has been watching Foleys King Of Deathmatch tape because Abyss wound up taking a Double Underhook DDT into one of the barbed wire boards, Foley was Slingshotted into another board by Abyss who ended up in a barbed wire board sandwich after Foley sidestepped an attempted Splash.
Foley made a nice Elbow Drop as Abyss was still covered by both boards but Abyss kicked out of the pin attempt with several clear cuts on his arm which was also bleeding, Foley poured out the thumbtacks & Stevie had to remind Abyss he couldn't use them or face DQ so Abyss hit Stevie with Shock Treatment as Daffney ran out to pass Foley the tazer which Foley used on Abyss.
Foley called down another ref who made possibly the worst 2 count I have ever seen (it actually WAS a 3 count & Abyss totally kicked out too late hence the massive boos from the crowd) which the colour desk did their utmost to try & cover but failed miserably, Foley was going for a barbed wire Socko Claw (have TNA not reminded him several times he can't use that name?) but Abyss hit a Drop Toe Hold taking Foley down onto a barbed wire board. The replacement ref made a 2 count before Stevie pulled him out and floored him with a punch.
This had distracted Abyss & Daffney climbed up onto the 2nd rope but Abyss Chokeslammed her through another of the barbed wire boards that had been set up between the ring & guardrail (incidently TNA might want to fire the director who was on the wrong camera so we didn't even SEE Daffney go through the barbed wire board so she took a nasty bump for no reason), Stevie came in & starting whaling on Abyss & took off the ref shirt only to get a Black Hole Slam onto the thumbtacks for his trouble.
Foley was Chokeslammed into a barbed wire board in the ring then Abyss dragged Stevie over & used his arm to make the count and take the win. (Are they REALLY going to let THAT count as a win?) Fortunately as they were showing the highlights we DID get to see Daffney take the Chokeslam through the barbed wire board.
Matt Morgan vs Kurt Angle - Another match with a 15 minute time limit, I didn't expect much in the way of action as I don't rate either guy as a wrestler. This was pretty dead until the last 5 minutes with both guys using most of their moves then, Morgan was stunned after Angle kicked out after The Hellavator & a hard Clothesline (by this point I assumed they were going to the time limit & calling this a draw) but Angle took the win off a Victory Roll within seconds of the time limit.
World Heavyweight Championship, Sting vs AJ Styles - Before this match rumours had abounded that this would be Stings final match for TNA as he was retiring, by the time the bell went this was only ever going to be a maximum of 20 minutes long. After several spots it became pretty obvious that both Sting & Styles were really enjoying this match as they both kept grinning wildy at each other, Sting was even polite enough to hold open the ropes for Styles after he was sent to the floor.
Styles nailed a lovely Enzuigiri on Sting leading to a near fall but Sting came back with a couple of nice Bulldogs, Styles sold a really high looking Backdrop off Sting like crazy before hitting a great Dropkick. Both guys got a taste of guard rail missing Splashes on each other with Styles interupting Earl Hebners count to allow Sting time to get back into the ring, Sting got a near fall himself off a Piledriver but by this time the match was backwards & forwards between both guys as to who was on top and closest to victory.
Styles took 2 successive Scorpion Death Drops kicking out of a pin but Sting went for the Scorpion Deathlock which Styles managed to get out of but he came VERY close to tapping out, Styles then really sold a Clothesline for all he was worth only just kicking out of the pin that followed it. After nailing Sting with a Headbutt Styles took a nasty tumble off the top turnbuckle before connecting with The Pele off the apron which Sting certainly wasn't expecting but Styles made a Springboard Splash to take the win to retain his title.
It took 3 different microphones before Styles was able to talk to Sting postmatch, it had been mooted that if Sting lost he was going to retire. Sting did a pretty decent job of putting Styles over and passing the torch with the fans chanting "please don't go" and "1 more year" but he was pretty cryptic about if he's retired or not. I guess we will have to wait until this weeks Impact to find out if Booker T actually is going or not, likewise for Sting.
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