Mike Reviews TNA Bound For Glory 2005

Happy Saturday Everyone!

We’re going to review Bound For Glory 2005 today, as IMPACT has been nice enough to put the full show on their YouTube channel and I don’t believe I’ve ever watched the show in full. Bound For Glory was kind of supposed to be TNA’s WrestleMania equivalent, with this being the first pay per view since they started airing on SPIKE TV.

There was some commotion in the build-up to Bound For Glory 2005, as Kevin Nash was supposed to take on Jeff Jarrett for the NWA Title, but then he was ill/injured and couldn’t take part, so they had to scramble with a way to fix it on the night. We’ll get to how they dealt with that as the show goes on.

You can view the card for Bound For Glory 2005 by clicking below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=4440&page=3

The event is emanating from THE IMPACT ZONE on the 23rd of October 2005

Calling the action are Mike Tenay and Don West

We get the big dramatic opening video package as they try to make this show feel like a big deal. They do a nice thing of showing clips from previous pay per views whist the narrator mentions the names of each event.

Opening Match
Jushin Thunder Liger Vs The Samoan Submission Machine Samoa Joe

New Japan and TNA had a working relationship at the time, meaning that Liger came in to work this show. Joe had been working in the X-Division and had really been getting over, so this was a marquee match for him to get his teeth into. Joe does a traditional Samoan dance for his entrance along with a Polynesian dance troupe, and it succeeds in making him look like a big star. Liger then gets to come out to his real New Japan entrance music whilst fans throw streamers into the ring, which again helps with making this match feel important.

We see that Simon Inoki is sitting at ringside, as he was New Japan president at the time. Sadly he isn’t remembered very fondly due to New Japan being really in doldrums during his time there. Unfortunately they only get 8 minutes to work with here, but the action is fast paced and enjoyable at least, with Joe overpowering Liger in the early stages until Liger is able to use his speed in order to put Joe on the back foot, complete with a dive to the floor at one stage. Joe manages to catch Liger on a cross body attempt back inside the ring though and then works some heat, with Liger selling it well and the crowd getting behind him.

Joe’s work looks very believable, which is what you expect from him most of the time, and Liger does a good job of working in some hope spots so that the crowd doesn’t give up on him. Liger eventually manages to fight back, getting an impressive Fisherman’s Buster onto Joe for a two count before heading up with a lovely looking splash for another two. Liger looks to end things with his trademark Shotei Palm Strike, but Joe dodges that, only for Liger to counter the Muscle Buster into a Liger-Bomb for yet another two. The Shotei gets only a two also, as Liger is running through his move list and still can’t put Joe away. Joe eventually manages to cut off Liger when he’s heading up, and the Muscle Buster followed by the Coqina Clutch leads to the pass out.

WINNER: SAMOA JOE
RATING: ***

Thoughts: It was disappointing that we only got 8 minutes, and you could tell that the fans thought they were going to get more and that Liger would get out of the hold somehow, but instead they took it home. If they’d given them another 5 minutes then this could have been knocking on the door of four stars though, as the work was very good, just rushed

We get footage of fans meeting the wrestlers and talking about how excited they are for the show. The general sentiment is that TNA is “real” wrestling and not “soap opera” like WWE. TNA possibly had a slightly more wrestling focused product than WWE at the time, but these fans were going on like it was UWFi or something.

Simon Diamond is browbeating David Young and Elix Skipper for losing too much recently.

Match Two
The Diamonds In The Rough (Simon Diamond, Elix Skipper and David Young) Vs Apollo, Sonny Siaki and Shark Boy

The Diamonds are Simon Diamond’s Heel faction, although they never really got much of a push. Apollo was name guy in Puerto Rico and had been tagging semi-regularly with Siaki, who was mostly known for doing an act that was alarmingly similar to The Rock. He had a good look and eventually got signed by WWE to a Developmental deal, although he never made the main roster despite being a noted favourite of Dusty Rhodes. Shark Boy is a masked comedy guy, who went through a phase where he thought he was Stone Cold Steve Austin due to suffering numerous concussions, Because TNA.

Diamond and Sharky do an extended bit at the start, and it’s quite fun, with Shark Boy eventually gnawing on Diamond’s derriere in order to cause him to flee. Apollo gets some boos when he comes in for some reason, even though he’s supposed to be a babyface here and it’s not like his wrestling is especially bad here or anything, outside of a messed up Half Nelson Face Buster at one stage. Skipper seems to be all over the place in this one actually, as he seems to get flustered early on and then tries to overcompensate for it, which just causes him to continue wrestling sloppily.

We get a brief bit of heat on Apollo and then it’s hot tag Siaki, and he displays one of my main pet peeves by chasing the Heels around to hit all of his moves, rather than just standing in the middle of the ring and letting them come to him, which is almost always a smoother way of doing it. Things break down following that, with everyone getting in there and hitting a move, as things continue to be a bit sloppy. We get a series of dives to the floor, with Apollo busting out an impressive TOPE CON HILO at one stage considering his size. Young ends up catching Siaki with a Spine Buster back inside soon after though and that’s three.

WINNERS: DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH
RATING: *1/2

Thoughts: This was really sloppy in places, although the stuff with Diamond and Shark Boy at the start was fun. I think I might have preferred to see them do a singles match actually, as I like Diamond and I’ve always been partial to some Sharky

On the pre-show, Sonjay Dutt wins a wacky multi-wrestler X-Division match. Also, Raven and Rhino had a confrontation when Raven was trying to choke Larry Zbyzko, leading to Rhino asking Raven where ECW Raven had gone, which was a tease for Raven going Heel I believe.

Shane Douglas is backstage with NWA World Champ Jeff Jarrett and Gail Kim. Jarrett taunts about Kevin Nash not being at the event tonight and says that he doesn’t care who he will face and makes fun of all of his potential challengers. It must have been warm in the building, because he’s sweating harder than Tommy Dreamer on Twitter following a Darkside of the Ring episode. Monty Brown confronts Jarrett and says that Jarrett is afraid of him. Brown cuts a good promo here, although it was the only promo he could ever cut and it started to wear thin after a certain point.

Match Three
The Alpha Male Monty Brown Vs Lance Hoyt

Brown is a Superb Owl winning American Footballer who ended up going to WWE in order to fill out the roster of their ECW brand. His finisher is a vicious running shoulder tackle that he calls DA POUNCE (Period). Hoyt would be better known as Lance Archer these days and he got improbably over in TNA for a while due to being a cool guy that the fans liked going drinking with. TNA never really committed to pushing Hoyt despite the groundswell of support he enjoyed though. Case in point, this match where the focus is more on making Brown look like a star.

Brown almost lands on his head following a back body drop early on, which I can’t work out the cause for. Either Brown didn’t jump enough, Hoyt didn’t boost him enough, or both. The fight heads out to the floor following that, with Hoyt getting a dive from inside the ring to the floor, which almost leads to Hoyt landing on the floor face first. Heaven’s to nelly lads, calm down a bit in there. I appreciate that these two are clearly working hard to have a good match, but it’s getting to the point that it’s bordering on reckless. These are big men and they need to calm down a bit.

Hoyt tries something else off the top, but Brown shoves Hoyt off the ropes to the floor and then gets a suplex on the floor for what I though was the cut off, but Hoyt continues to fight back and the two trade big moves some more, with Hoyt getting a big boot and then heading up top with an almost-out-of-control-but-not-quite Moonsault for two. Sorry, but if a guy the size of Lance Hoyt Moonsault’s you, then it should be the finish. Brown impressively muscles Hoyt up to a Powerbomb for a near fall of his own, as they are both cycling through the biggest moves in their respective arsenals. Brown eventually manages to catch Hoyt with DA POUNCE (Period) and that’s enough for three.

WINNER: MONTY BROWN
RATING: **

Thoughts: I was genuinely afraid that these two were going to kill one another during this bout at points, but they were both working super hard and the crowd dug it, so I ended up enjoying it despite my fears for the two wrestler’s safety

We get footage of TNA stars heading to India and getting greeted by the fans. This helped make TNA look like a worldwide brand.

Shane Douglas is backstage with The 3 Live Kru, who are ready for the next match as they are going to back one another up tonight. Billy Gunn offers some help to the team as they’ll be outnumbered at ringside, which BG James and Ron Killings seem happy about, but Konnan isn’t on board with it because he doesn’t trust Gunn.

Match Four
Team Canada (Bobby Roode, Showtime Eric Young and A-1) w/ Scotty D’Amore Vs The 3 Live Kru (BG James, Ron The Truth Killings and Konnan)

Team Canada were getting an almost insufferable push at the time due to D’Amore having influence on the booking, so of course his act was featured regularly. Roode and Young were both good wrestlers at least, whilst A-1 was a generic big dude that couldn’t do much. 3LK had been a popular act but their time was coming to an end, as Konnan would start managing LAX in 2006, leading to the group breaking up after a near 3 year run together.

Konnan runs wild on the Canadians early on, even throwing his shoe at them (honestly, who throws a shoe?) with Roode and Young taking some excellent bumps and A-1 also existing. We see that Kip James (Billy Gunn) is watching from the entrance way, whilst 3LK continue to shine on Team Canada, with Team Canada continuing to do a good job bumping and feeding for it all. Eventually Truth gets distracted and that leads to Roode cutting him off for the heat segment.

Truth sells well during that, with Roode and Young doing a good job working him over, whilst A-1 also exists. Truth eventually manages to make the tag to BG, who runs wild on the Heels and smartly stays in the middle of the ring so that they can come to him, leading to Shaky Knee Drop on Young for two when the count gets broken up. Things break down following that, with all six wrestlers going at it. Roode ends up hitting BG with a hockey stick whilst the ref is distracted and that leads to Young getting the pin.

WINNERS: TEAM CANADA
RATING: **

Thoughts: This was okay, with Young and Roode doing a good job in the match, whilst A-1 also existed. Truth was the better worker on the babyface side, but BG and Konnan didn’t let the side down either

Kip James teases that he’ll help Team Canada beat up Konnan following the match, but then he fights them off instead in an effort to show that he can be trusted.

Authority figure Larry Z tells Shane Douglas that he’s trying to work out who will challenge Jeff Jarrett tonight now that Kevin Nash is out.

We get a video package that does a good job of showing how dangerous and violent Ultimate X can be.

Match Five
Ultimate X Match for #1 Contender Status to X-Division Title
Maverick Matt Bentley w/ Traci Brooks Vs The Canadian Destroyer Petey Williams w/ Scott D’Amore Vs Chris Sabin

Bentley had been called Michael Shane, but then WWE signed a guy called Mike Shane and he wasn’t allowed to use the name anymore, even though the guy in WWE wasn’t ever called Mike Shane when he worked there. Copyright is an odd thing isn’t it? I can’t remember if Bentley was actually related to Shawn Michaels or if that was just a gimmick, but he did do a lot of HBK spots in his matches. Williams would likely best be known for inventing the Canadian Destroyer, before everyone from the popcorn vendor to your granny started doing the move. Sabin was the face of the X-Division for a while, both as a babyface and a Heel.

The fans are doing the “Bentley Bounce” in the crowd for Bentley, which is basically them just bouncing side to side. It’s pretty similar to the dance for Abyss in all honesty. To win here you have to use the cables set up above the ring in order to grab a giant “X” in the middle. No ladders are allowed. This one is all about quick paced action, with all three competitors delivering quick moves and attacks to one another. Traci ends up distracting Williams by rubbing his face in her chesticles, which almost leads to Bentley grabbing the X until Sabin puts a stop to it. I hope D’Amore doesn’t try similar to distract someone, although he has the rack to pull it off if he did.

It’s really good action actually, with Sabin getting a fantastic swinging DDT at one stage whilst Williams also does some impressive high flying. It really is hard to do play by play for one of these matches, as it really is a cacophony of spots without much else. I can understand why some wouldn’t like that, but I think that sort of match has it’s place so long as you don’t overdo it elsewhere on the card, and thus far we haven’t had a match that was just wacky high flying yet. One of the big OMG spots is Sabin giving Bentley a powerbomb from the ropes down to the mat, which of course gets the requisite pop from the crowd.

Bentley is just taking some gnarly looking bumps here, including one where he gets shoved off the top rope down to the floor at one stage and seemingly lands in a seated position, which had to be just a treat for his bum and tailbone. Unfortunately the match has a pretty terrible ending, as the X randomly falls down at one stage before anyone can grab it, meaning there is a delay where they have to hang it back up. However, it doesn’t remain up there and it eventually falls off again. Williams stands under the X and catches it when it falls down, leading to him being declared the winner, but the fans aren’t pleased.

“WINNER”: PETEY WILLIAMS
RATING: ***

Thoughts: To say TNA caught some flack for this chicanery would be an understatement. They would end up doing a rematch on Impact after declaring the result of this one void. It’s a shame as the match was a pretty exhilarating spot fest before the X went into business for itself

We get footage of America’s Most Wanted turning Heel and helping Jeff Jarrett win the NWA World Title. AMW also injured Team 3D, leading to an entertaining segment on Impact where they held a mock funeral for Team 3D. I think in reality Team 3D were in Japan for part of the build to this event and couldn’t do all of the TV’s, so they did the injury as a way to write them out for a bit until they were able to return.

Match Six
NWA World Tag Team Titles
Champs: America’s Most Wanted (Wildcat Chris Harris and The Tennessee Cowboy James Storm) w/ Gail Kim Vs The Naturals (Andy Douglas and Chase Stevens)

These two had been feuding quite a bit throughout 2005, with AMW recently going Heel in order to win the belts and form an alliance with Jeff Jarrett. It was probably time for a Heel run for AMW as they’d been babyfaces since 2002 and it was preferable to just splitting them up. The Naturals run wild on AMW to start, with the idea being that they’re really angry due to how AMW screwed them out of the belts and they’re wrestling extra aggressive as a result, which is a nice touch. The Naturals were generally seen as being quite a bland team at the time, but they’re showing some good intensity and fire here.

Kim eventually provides a distraction and that leads to AMW getting the cut off, with Storm flinging Douglas face first onto the announce table in order to draw blood. Douglas does a good job of playing the gutsy babyface who keeps fighting and trying to make the tag despite having his back against the wall, ala Ricky Morton or Jeff Hardy. Stevens eventually gets the tag, and it appears like he’s bleeding as well from something, which leads to things breaking down with all four wrestlers going at it. Harris tries to Southern this up even further by introducing powder into things, but he of course gets it kicked into his own face and then takes out Storm.

The Naturals use that moment to try and win it, by hitting Harris with AMW’s own double team finisher The Death Sentence (one does a leg drop from the top whilst the other lifts the opponent up) but Harris manages to kick out. Harris manages to reply by handcuffing Douglas to the metal railings at ringside, which means that Stevens is fighting off both Heels by himself. He actually does a decent job at that, but eventually the numbers become too much, and Storm hits Stevens with a beer bottle whilst Kim distracts the referee. AMW then gets the Death Sentence on Stevens and that’s the three count.

WINNERS AND STILL CHAMPIONS: AMW
RATING: ***1/4

Thoughts: They kind of jobbed out The Naturals a bit there, as AMW was able to kick out of the move that eventually put The Naturals away. The Naturals even managed to foil some of AMW’s cheating at points and they STILL lost, which didn’t make them look like very effective babyfaces. The match itself had some really good wrestling and they worked a good mixture of classic Southern Style and Modern stuff, which AMW always did really well

Harris hits Douglas with a chair following the match for good measure. Yes TNA, AMW are much better than The Naturals, we get it.

We get a video package for the next match showing the competitors hitting one another with a slew of weaponry.

Shane Douglas is backstage with Sinister Minister, who says that Abyss will be even more dangerous in this match because having to spend a night alone in a darkened room will have unleashed Abyss’ PTSD from his childhood, which will lead to him destroying everyone in the match.

Match Seven
Monster’s Ball
The Monster Abyss w/ Father James Mitchell Vs The Charismatic Enigma Jeff Hardy Vs The Man Beast Rhino Vs The Homicidal, Suicidal, Genocidal Sabu

The gimmick for this one is that they’ve locked all four guys in a room with no food, light or water for 24 hours and now they’re going to let them go at it in a hardcore match. I’m pretty certain most amateur athletes at the college level would consider those conditions to be bordering on luxurious in all honesty. Abyss has a bag with him on the way to the ring that will likely have thumbtacks in it, because Abyss. Mick Foley did that spot maybe two or three times during his initial WWF/E run (KOTR 98 and Royal Rumble 2000 are the main ones I can recall) which is why those moments remain memorable, but Abyss was doing it on pretty much every pay per view, stripping it of its ability to shock after a certain point.

They quickly fight into the crowd here, with Abyss pairing up with Hardy whilst Rhino and Sabu go at it, as Sabu already seems to be bleeding. It’s another one of those matches where play by play is difficult, because there’s something happening at every moment with bodies flying all over the place, weapons getting swung, and big moves getting delivered whenever the opportunity allows. As Tony Schiavone would yell in the Video Game of the same name; “This is absolute Mayhem!” and it certainly is. I have to say that I personally find it quite entertaining, but I generally enjoy these sorts of matches when they happen in ECW as well, especially if New Jack’s music is playing in the background. Your own personal mileage may vary as there’s very little actual wrestling going on here.

Sabu of course puts someone through a table at one stage (Rhino) whilst Jeff Hardy does a death defying leap from a high place onto someone (Abyss) with Hardy seemingly diving from nearly 20-30 foot in the air with a Swanton through a table. That was genuinely one of the most jaw dropping spots I’ve ever seen in a match like this, and I have to give credit to the production team for how they shot it, as they got as low down as possible in order to make it look like Hardy was leaping from the very heaven’s all the way down to the Earth’s core. My only complaint is that I think Abyss gets up too quickly from it. Honestly, we shouldn’t be seeing either of them again for the rest of the match following that, the spot looked THAT impressive.

Abyss tries to empty the back of tacks into the ring, but before he can he ends up taking a GORE! GORE!! GORE!!! through a table in the corner first courtesy of Rhino. Rhino isn’t done dishing out punishment either, as he gives Hardy a piledriver from the middle rope and that gets him the three count when Sabu is unable to break up the pin attempt in time. The crowd serenades the wrestlers with chants of how awesome they thought the match was following that.

WINNER: RHINO
RATING: ***1/3

Thoughts: I can totally see why some viewers would hate this, as it was literally a brawl from the opening bell with all four wrestlers hitting one another with plunder and getting up far too quickly from big bumps because the plot of the match required them to do so. Honestly, that Hardy Swanton Bomb from the entrance way onto Abyss was so spectacular that it almost pained me to see Abyss get up from it as quickly as he did. Say what you want about WWE; but if that sort of spot happened there then it’s either the finish or you’re not seeing either of the two wrestlers again for the remainder of the match. I found the match to be genuinely very exciting at points, but your own personal mileage may vary depending on how much you do or don’t like these kinds of matches

Shane Douglas is backstage with Larry Z, who says that we’re going to have a 10 man over the top battle royal later on, and the winner will get a shot at Jeff Jarrett later on. Jarrett is seemingly very unhappy about this, although I don’t know why, as they’ve made it clear that the match includes people who have already wrestled tonight and they’re going to have to beat nine other guys before they can wrestle a fresh Jarrett. Jarrett holds all of the advantages in this one, so I don’t know why he’s whinging about it.

Match Eight
30 Minute Iron Man Match for the TNA X-Division Title
Champ: The Phenomenal AJ Styles Vs The Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels

Styles had won the belt from Daniels back at the previous pay per view, so Daniels now has a chance to win it back in a stipulation match. They had previously wrestled an Iron Man match earlier in the year, where Styles took the bout into overtime despite being locked in a submission hold and then managed to win. Daniels is not only looking to win his belt back here but he’s also looking to avenge his previous Iron Man defeat.

They start this one on the front foot, with Daniels attacking Styles at the bell and working him over, which is interesting for an Iron Man match as usually the wrestlers will build it gradually because they’re going to have to wrestle for a long time, so it makes for a change of pace to work it this way instead. The action itself is really good as well, as these two have good chemistry together and they are also very skilled grapple merchants. There’s an incredible spot in the early stages where Styles knocks Daniels into the front row and then flies into him with a forearm. A poor fan didn’t they know that was coming and they shrieked when Styles came from out of nowhere to attack Daniels.

The crowd is quite quiet for this one actually, although it looks like they’re all watching it intently, so it has a bit of a Japanese styled atmosphere at points. It’s not like fans are chanting that it’s boring or anything, they’re just not making as much noise as they have in some of the prior bouts. The wrestling continues to be good, as Styles manages to weather Daniels’ opening flurry and then works some holds before slamming Daniels face first into all of the turnbuckles, which perks the crowd up a bit as Styles does a good job of playing to them whilst bouncing Daniels’ bonce. Daniels is doing a good job selling everything, whilst Styles is doing a good job of controlling the bout without coming across as heelish.

Daniels eventually manages to counter The Phenomenal Forearm into a nice looking T-Bone Suplex and that leads to Daniels working over Styles for a bit, with Daniels being more vicious, arrogant and nasty than Styles was in order to get across the idea that he’s the villain of the piece. Styles takes some great bumps and sells well in general whilst being worked over, with Daniels targeting the neck, which mirrors what Styles was doing when he had control as he was also going for the neck. Daniels tries to pay off the neck work by locking Styles in the Koji Clutch, leading to Styles doing the big dramatic sell job before dragging himself to the ropes.

Both Daniels and Styles did an excellent job there; with Daniels selling the desperation of hoping to get the submission win whilst Styles did an excellent job of defiantly holding on until he got a chance to make it to the ropes. The crowd really responded to it as well, as they are gradually getting more into this. As we head to the 15 Minute mark, we still haven’t had a fall, as Styles gets his trademark backflip DDT onto Daniels in order to begin mounting a comeback. However, Daniels is able to counter a Styles high flying move into a Spicolli Driver for a two count in a neat near fall. That was done slickly, as these two are smooth as silk in there.

Daniels runs through most of his arsenal trying to get a fall on Styles, including moves such as a Blue Thunder Bomb and the Best Moonsault Ever, but Styles keeps managing to kick out as we hit the 20 minute mark in the contest. We move onto some dives as we enter the last 10 minutes, with both wrestlers delivering some beauties and the crowd getting more and more into the bout. They’ve worked this one well and they’ve built the match to a good crescendo. The pace they’ve worked at has been very impressive for such a long match too. Possibly one of the most brutal moves in the match is when Daniels gives Styles a back suplex off the apron to the floor, with both wrestlers landing on the mats with a meaty thud.

We get a series of roll up attempts as we enter the last 5 minutes, with both wrestlers continuing to kick out whilst wrestling at a quick clip. Styles even busts out the old All Japan delayed sell at one stage, taking a German but then popping up with a Lariat for the double down as we near the 28 Minute mark. The crowd is doing duelling chants now, as the effort from both of the wrestlers has got them engrossed after quiet start. You can’t really argue with a match that gets the crowd hotter the longer it goes on, as that’s kind of the point of a good wrestling bout. With just 15 seconds remaining, Styles manages to muscle Daniels into a Styles Clash and that’s enough for the first and only fall of the contest.

First Fall: AJ Styles (Styles Clash)

Final Score: Christopher Daniels 0 – 1 AJ Styles

WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: AJ STYLES
RATING: ****

Thoughts: Well I wasn’t expecting AJ Styles to pull a Jose Mourinho and 1-0 his opponent to death, but there you go. The match itself was superb, as they wrestled for 30 minutes and it never felt like it dragged for me, with the crowd being on the quiet side to start but then gradually getting more into it until they were losing their minds down the home stretch. I actually really liked the finish as well, as it’s rare you see someone win an Iron Man match 1-0 in the dying seconds like that without the bout requiring overtime in order to settle it. They were teasing that they might do the draw, but then they just had Styles win right at the death, which subverted expectations in a fun way. I think Styles was supposed to get the winning fall bang on zero, but there were about 2 seconds left, which I actually don’t mind. Better to be safe than sorry, and it’s not like Daniels was going to get back in it at that stage

Styles is quite emotional following that.

Semi-Main
10 Wrestler Gauntlet Battle Royal
Winner gets Jeff Jarrett for the NWA World Title
Monty Brown Vs Ron The Truth Killings Vs Sabu Vs Rhino Vs Samoa Joe Vs AJ Styles Vs Jeff Hardy Vs Abyss Vs Lance Hoyt Vs Kip James

So this is basically a mini-Royal Rumble styled match where wrestlers come out in intervals and you eliminate people by throwing them over the top. The third entrant comes out after two minutes and then every other entrant comes out after a minute.

Entrant #1
Samoa Joe

Entrant #2
Ron Killings

Truth makes fun of Joe’s Polynesian dancing from earlier, which ends up going about as well for him as you’d expect. Truth manages to fight back after Joe’s initial assault, and the two are battling on the ropes as the next entrant enters.

Entrant #3
Sabu w/ a chair

Both Joe and Truth get chaired from Sabu here, as he flings the weapon at them and then uses it as a boost for some high flying offence. The crowd likes that and gets into Sabu.

Entrant #4
Lance Hoyt

A lot of people that lost on the show earlier in the night are in this, which I’m not sure helps its prestige. Hoyt does some stuff but not much else is happening.

Entrant #5
Abyss

The crowd is into the idea of Abyss Vs Joe, with Joe matching up well to Abyss size wise, as they both goozle one another until Truth breaks it up. That was probably the most heat anything in the match has had thus far.

Entrant #6
Jeff Hardy

I feel sorry for these poor buggers that were in Monster’s Ball that they’re being carted out here again when I bet they’re all sore and hurting. Not much happens with Hardy in there.

Entrant #7
Monty Brown

Brown immediately delivers DA POUNCE (Period) to Sabu, but then both he and Hardy tumble out over the top to cause their double elimination, which the crowd doesn’t approve of as I think they wanted Brown to win and finally defeat Jarrett.

Jeff Hardy and Monty Brown Eliminate each other

The rest of the guys lay along the ropes and not much happens.

Entrant #8
Rhino

Rhino at least won Monster’s Ball, so I’m okay with him being here. Rhino quickly clotheslines Hoyt out.

Lance Hoyt Eliminated by Rhino (1)

The crowd keeps chanting for Samoa Joe, as he tries to throw out Sabu. Sabu survives that but Rhino quickly comes along and knocks Sabu out the floor, although the camera crew almost missed it as they were shooting Kip James’ entrance.

Sabu Eliminated by Rhino (2)

I think that was Rhino who did it anyway

Entrant #9
Kip James

James runs wild on Joe of all people, delivering a nice dropkick.

Entrant #10
AJ Styles

The commentary team thought that Raven would be the last entrant, but they’ve snubbed him for Styles here. The crowd seems to be favouring Joe over everyone else, which makes sense as he was the new hotness at the time and hadn’t been pinned or submitted yet in TNA. They try and do a spot where Abyss throws out James to the apron and then James sacrifices himself in order to keep Truth from going out, but they don’t get the timing right and it just looks off.

Kip James Eliminated by Abyss (1)

James once again keeps Truth in when Styles tries to throw Truth out, but the refs prevent it and Styles eventually manages to successfully eliminate Truth.

Ron Killings Eliminated by AJ Styles (1)

Joe and Styles do a quick bit together and it’s entertaining for the brief time it goes on for, but Abyss dumps them both out to the shock of the crowd.

AJ Styles and Samoa Joe Eliminated by Abyss (3)

Abyss doesn’t have time to smell the roses though, as Rhino gets him with the GORE! GORE!! GORE!!! and then flings Abyss out.

Abyss Eliminated by Rhino (3)

WINNER: RHINO
MOST ELIMINATIONS: ABYSS & RHINO (3 EACH)
RATING: **

Thoughts: Honestly I’m not sure why they bothered with this. The Battle Royal itself wasn’t awful or anything, just a bit dull in places, although Joe looked good whilst he was in there

Tito Ortiz joins us to generic music in order to ref the next match and then…

Jeff Jarrett makes his entrance, and he has a casket with him. Well, he did like to bury people during this time period…

Main Event
NWA World Title
Special Referee: The Huntington Beach Bad Boy Tito Ortiz
Champ: The King of the Mountain Jeff Jarrett Vs The War Machine Rhino

Jarrett was roundly hated at the time due to his stranglehold over the belt, even though he was doing little to nothing for business as Champion. If Rhino was getting the Title shot anyway then why not just say that the winner of Monster’s Ball got a shot later on? You could just move the match up to the Semi-Main position. You still get the same story of Rhino being worn down whilst Jarrett is fresh, and you don’t need to rush other matches in order to accommodate the gauntlet. They could have given some extra time to Joe Vs Liger as well as some of the other matches.

Case in point, as Jarrett enters the ring we’ve got about 9 minutes of show time left. Ix the Gauntlet and you could have let these two have more of an actual match. Kevin Nash was supposed to be facing Jarrett here, but I believe he had a Staph infection that put him out for a considerable amount of time, hence why we’ve got this match instead. Rhino is just selling here, which makes sense as he’s already wrestled two matches tonight, one of which was a weapons filled bloodfest. Jarrett does a good job of playing an unlikeable villain as he works Rhino over and taunts the fans.

Rhino eventually kicks Jarrett right in his Slapnuts, which leads to Gail Kim coming down and trying to help out Jarrett. Ortiz isn’t having that though and he throws her out of the building. However, whilst that’s going on, Jarrett breaks a guitar over Rhino’s head (likely not drawing a single dime in the process) which gets a two from Ortiz when he returns to the ring. AMW try helping out their boss next, and they’ve got another guitar with them. Ortiz takes them out with punches though and then Rhino hits Jarrett with the GORE! GORE!! GORE!!! in order to pick up the improbable victory and the belt.

WINNER AND NEW CHAMPION: RHINO
RATING: *3/4

Thoughts: Not much of a match at just 5 minutes, but what we got wasn’t terrible, although Tito Ortiz looked a bit lost at points

Jarrett, AMW, Gail Kim and Team Canada beat up Rhino following that, with 3 Live Kru trying to make the save and getting beaten down as well. Rhino gets dumped in the casket, at which point Team 3D run down to make the save. Poor Eric Young takes a 3D and gets dumped in the casket as the babyfaces stand tall to close

In Conclusion

I thought I might do a gag where I’d end the review abruptly as a parody of how rushed the end of the show itself was, but I’ll refrain from the low hanging fruit. I actually think there was more positive than negative on this and I liked the show overall, but I also think some of the other pay per views that TNA put on in 2005 were better than this one.

You could tell that they were trying to make Bound For Glory 2005 feel special, seeing as the event was supposed to be TNA’s WrestleMania level event, and if they’d just calmed things down a bit and cut the Gauntlet then I think everything would have had a bit more time to breathe. They could have given Joe Vs Liger some more time and also let the two guys in the Main Event have more of an actual match before the gaga started.

As it was, the show was flawed yet still rather fun, with the Iron Man match being a clear highlight. Joe/Liger was good but disappointing due to the abbreviated runtime, Ultimate X was going fine until the X went into business for itself, and the Tag Title match was really good, aside from the way it buried The Naturals. Monster’s Ball won’t be for everyone, but I was entertained by it.

Overall the good managed to outweigh the bad and I’ll give this one a mild recommendation as a result. With better pacing and better luck with some of the gimmicks (Ultimate X I’m looking at YOU) this could have been a really great show though as they had all the pieces but they just couldn’t put them together enough for the show to reach its full potential.