Once again it’s time to review a DVD release of a pay-per-view I’ve previously reviewed, as I take a look at TNA’s most recent release, the two disc Bound for Glory 2009, headlined by Sting and A.J. Styles squaring off for the World title.First up was the Ultimate X match, with the X Division title on the line, and featuring Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Suicide, Homicide, Christopher Daniels and champion Amazing Red. It’s the usual multi-man X Division fare here, tons of high flying moves, and damn entertaining at that. Once again Sabin and Shelley impressed the hell out of me with their teamwork, as did Daniels. Mind you, Daniels impresses me every time I see him. So after tons of high spots and big bumps that will probably shorten a few careers, Red dropped down through the scaffold, fought of Shelley, and claimed the belt for his own. Good stuff to begin the show with.
The title action continued with the Beautiful People team of Velvet Skye and Madison Rayne, accompanied by Lacey Von Erich, challenging Taylor Wilde and Sarita for the Knockouts Tag Team titles. This was another example of how much Angelina Love was missed. Things just weren’t the same without her. It’s a relatively short match, with the champions getting the pin on Rayne with their springboard dropkick/bridge suplex combo. Not bad I suppose, but missing that certain something.
Then it was on to Kevin Nash defending the Legends title against Eric Young and Hernandez, with Young and Nash supposedly working together to take out big Super Mex. This was a really enjoyable match. Once again Hernandez impressed me, and I really liked his exchanges with Nash for some unknown reason. Nash and Young doubled up on Hernandez for the majority of the match, until Young double-crossed Nash when he used Hernandez to deliver a low blow, so he could get the title winning pin on Nash. Nice work from all concerned here.
The action continued with the Full Metal Mayhem match for the TNA and IWGP Tag Team titles, with the British Invasion, Beer Money, Team 3D, and Scott Steiner and Booker T. Well, this is one match I can’t review, because Nick “Brutus Magnus” Aldis still has withdrawn his threat of legal action if I say anything against him on the internet.
So it’s on to the next match, more three way action with ODB, Awesome Kong and Tara going at it for the Knockouts title. I’ve said this countless times before, but this is what TNA does so much better than their rivals. These three put on a great match, with all of them giving a good account of themselves, despite the brief interruption by Kim Couture. An argument between Kong and Raisha Saeed saw ODB taking Kong out with a face buster onto a steel chair, which enabled her to get the winning pin. Nice work here girls.
The match that looked great on paper was next, the submission match pitting Samoa Joe against Bobby Lashley. Lashley came into this one with his ribs taped up, a veritable bulls eye for the Samoan submission machine. The exchange of submission holds reminded me of the recent Kurt Angle/Desmond Wolfe encounters, and this was certainly better than Lashley’s recent bouts with Scott Steiner. Great hard-hitting action throughout, with Lashley getting the win with a side choke. This is one of those matches I could just watch time and time again.
The Monster’s Ball match featuring Abyss and Mick Foley, with Abyss banned from using thumb tacks and with Stevie Richards as special referee followed. In a way it seemed kind of apt that a brawl like this followed a great technical battle. It’s basically one big fight, with big bumps through the stage and barbed wire boards, plenty of weapons shots, and a corrupt referee thrown in for good measure, and it’s far more entertaining than I remember. Things went to hell a little when Daffney tried to interfere, only for Abyss to choke slam her through one of the aforementioned boards. He then took Stevie out with a black hole slam on some tacks, before using Stevie’s limp hand to count the pin on Foley. Well, I guess you have to have an entertaining brawl once in a while.
The penultimate match saw Kurt Angle squaring off against Matt Morgan. This was a great match. As soon as Angle stepped into the ring you just knew that you were going to be in for a tremendous wrestling encounter. But let’s not forget Morgan’s contribution to things here, in what has to be the best match of his career. It was one of those matches you just didn’t want to end. But sadly, it did, as both men unleashed their full arsenals before Angle took the win with a victory roll, with a handshake the perfect ending to a great match.
The main event saw Sting challenging A.J. Styles for the TNA World title. This one was definitely worthy of it’s spot on the card, a nice face versus face battle with the veteran and his chosen successor putting on a hell of a back and forth affair. For me it was Sting’s best performance in years as Styles brought out the best in him. Styles, as always, was Styles, one of the best in the world at the moment. I couldn’t help but agree with the fans as they chanted “this is wrestling”. So after what seemed like an eternity of great action, Styles retained the title from out of nowhere, taking out the Stinger with a pele kick from the apron, before getting the pin after a big splash from the top rope. Afterwards, Styles called Sting back to the ring, as the icon teased the fans about his future in the wrestling business. Let’s just hope that he doesn’t stay up in the rafters too long, because that’s so 1997!
Disc two is where you’ll find the extras, which include numerous interviews, music videos, a bonus match and more.
In conclusion - I really enjoyed this release. The majority of the action was top notch, a good example of what TNA was all about pre-Hulk Hogan, and the extras are also a great addition. So with all of that, this DVD release comes highly recommended from this particular writer.
With thanks to the powers-that-be at TNA for supplying a copy of this release.
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