11/5 Powell’s Impact Wrestling Bound For Glory live review: Eli Drake vs. Johnny Impact for the Impact Wrestling Championship, OVE vs. LAX in a 5150 Street Fight for the IW Tag Titles, Sienna vs. Gail Kim vs. Allie for the Knockouts Title

By Jason Powell

Impact Wrestling Bound For Glory 2017
Aired live on pay-per-view and on FITE TV
Ottawa, Ontario at Aberdeen Pavillion

The event opened with a countdown clock and then Alberto El Patron was shown arriving backstage “earlier today”… The BFG opening video aired… The broadcast team of Jeremy Borash and Josh Mathews checked in…

Powell’s POV: The venue looks solid on television. The ring is lit well, the ropes are red and white, and the set appears to the usual set used for Impact.

1. Trevor Lee vs. Matt Sydal vs. Garza Jr. vs. Petey Williams vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Dezmond Xavier for the X Division Title. Home country hero Petey’s entrance was wisely saved for last. He came out to the Canadian national anthem and wore his Team Canada gear. Two men were allowed in the ring at once. The broadcast team said something about there not being tags, but there were tags. Mathews then said the wrestlers don’t have to tag in to be legal if the legal wrestlers go to the floor.

Lee heeled on the crowd by yelling USA, which led to boos. Garza Jr. had his right shoulder heavily taped, which Lee targeted. Williams set up for the Canadian Destroyer on Lee, who shoved avoided it. Williams ended up performing a huracanrana on Lee at ringside. Xavier performed a big handspring dive over the top and onto a group of wrestlers on the floor. Xavier followed up with a corkscrew dive and went for a cover that was broken up.

At 11:30, Williams applied the Sharpshooter on Sydal, but Dutt broke it up with a kick. It was rapid fire finisher time. Williams hit the Canadian Destroyer on Xavier, but Lee threw Williams to ringside and stole the pin…

Trevor Lee defeated Matt Sydal, Garza Jr., Petey Williams, Sonjay Dutt, and Dezmond Xavier in 12:25 to retain the X Division Title.

Powell’s POV: A good opener. The rules of the match were confusing and not just for the broadcast team. I like the decision to keep the title on Lee rather than go for the easy pop of having Williams win the title on the first night in Canada.

Global Forged winner Hakim Zane was shown in the crowd… The broadcast team spoke from their spot on the side of the stage briefly…

2. Tyson Dux vs. Taiji Ishimori. Borash said Dux was in Team Canada and is Canada’s hottest free agent. Ishimori was led onto the stage by the chairman of Pro Wrestling Noah. Laurel Van Ness was shown walking through the crowd wearing more lipstick than Miranda Sings, so it looks like her man hunt is continuing under the new creative team. Late in the match, Ishimori performed a 450 splash off the top rope and scored the pin…

Taiji Ishimorii defeated Tyson Dux in 4:50.

Powell’s POV: A solid unadvertised match. I felt bad for the wrestlers in that it’s hard enough to get the fans excited about the unadvertised match and then they had the built-in distraction of Van Ness walking around ringside. I guess this means Canada is 0-2 on the night thus far.

A shot aired of Johnny Impact arriving earlier in the day… Backstage, Abyss approached Grado, who called him Joseph (Park). Abyss grabbed him and said there was no Joseph. Abyss said he would deported. Grado fired up and said he was ready. He called him Joseph again and said to expect someone who would beat his ass…

Powell’s POV: The audio was really rough on that clip to the point that it should not have aired in that form.

Alberto El Patron made his entrance. Borash claimed the segment was not scheduled. Mathews said Borash is the one who wanted him there. El Patron complained about the “cowards back there” who listened to lies. El Patron said he didn’t do anything and they still suspended him and stopped paying him. “They took my title away from me,” El Patron said.

Alberto said the company has a paper champion. He called himself the real champion. El Patron said the company didn’t care about his family and they listened to people who spread lies. “None of them” called, texted, or came to his house to see if everything was okay. Alberto said what’s wrong is Impact Wrestling, what’s going to happen tonight, and what he’s going to do in this company tonight.

Alberto said Impact is filled with cowards, losers, and backstabbers. “What’s up, JB?” Patron said while looking at Borash. Alberto stood on the apron and yelled at Borash, then stood on the ramp and asked where Borash was three months ago. Alberto ended up on the broadcast team’s platform and asked Borash if he called him. Borash said he did not call or text and then apologized.

Alberto offered Borash a handshake, which Borash accepted. “But you’re still shaking my hand,” El Patron said. He added that he came to Canada to make a statement. Alberto looked at Borash and said he was going to start by making a statement with him. “Or maybe not,” Alberto said. He addressed the fans by saying that it’s Bound For Glory and tonight would be amazing. El Patron threw the mic down and headed backstage…

Powell’s POV: A lousy, rambling promo from El Patron. The basic message was that he was mad at Borash (who cares?) and management (who cares?) and that he is going to do something to make a statement during the show. Rather than say that, he just kept rambling on and on and took forever to make his point. So apparently he’s back as a heel, Borash has no friends backstage, and we have to wait to see what El Patron does later in the show.

A video package set up the Monster’s Ball…

3. Abyss vs. Grado in a Monster’s Ball. Grado wore a Mick Foley flannel shirt along with jeans. Abyss took the mic and told Grado not to listen to the fans because they can’t help him now and they’re not even American. Abyss said he smelled fear. Abyss said he didn’t see Grado dancing now. “Dance for me,” Abyss said. Grado obliged and then kicked Abyss in the nuts to start the match.

Grado introduced a stapler and there were other weapons in a trashcan at ringside. There were also barbwire tables. Abyss slid some in the ring and then set one up one over the barricade and the edge of the ring and wanted to chokeslam Grado onto it, but Grado fought him off. At 3:30, Abyss poured thumbtacks in the ring, but Grado used a cheese grater on his nuts.

Grado went up top. Abyss recovered and threw a trashcan at Grado, which knocked him off the top rope and through the barbwire board. Abyss pulled out Janice (a board with nails), but Grado prevented him from using it. Grado struck Abyss with a kendo stick. They once again cut to Laurel Van Ness, who was sitting on some guy’s lap in the crowd.

Grado knocked Abyss onto one of the barbwire boards. Grado placed another one on top of Abyss and then went up top. Grado performed a top rope splash on Abyss and got a two count. Both men had bloody arms from the barbwire. Van Ness made her way to ringside. Grado picked up Janice, but Van Ness low blowed him and then performed a move on him. The lights went out.

When the lights turned on again, Rosemary was standing in the ring with Van Ness and ended up spraying mist in her face. Rosemary and Abyss looked at one another while the broadcast team recalled their time in Decay. Abyss grabbed her by the throat, but Rosemary petted his head and he let her go. Abyss held Grado and Rosemary sprayed mist, but Grado moved and Abyss took the mist. Abyss chokeslammed Rosemary onto the thumbtackls. Grado rolled up Abyss for a two count. Abyss came back with a Blackhole Slam on a barbwire board and pinned him…

Abyss beat Grado in a Monster’s Ball in 10:40.

Powell’s POV: An awful garbage match. I assumed this was going to be a Jeremy Borash special in that they would venture backstage and have a lot of pre-taped wackiness, but this was just a straight forward garbage match that never clicked with the live crowd. There also seemed to be some confusion as it sounded like the bell rang during one of the near falls, but the referee quickly stood up and indicated that it was only a two count.

Backstage, McKenzie Mitchell interviewed James Storm, Eddie Edwards, and EC3. Edwards spoke, Storm yelled, and EC3 looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. EC3, who had the Impact Grand Championship over his shoulder, told his teammates that he would see them out there… A video package set up the six-man tag match…

4. EC3, James Storm, and Eddie Edwards vs. El Hijo Del Fantasma, Pagano, and El Texano Jr. AAA promoter Dorian Roldan walked the AAA wrestlers onto the stage. The Impact wrestlers received individual entrances. Edwards wore the GHC Championship to the ring, and Borash announced that the Pro Wrestling Noah title would be defended on Impact this week. Storm got in EC3’s face briefly at ringside before the match.

Edwards brought Fantasma to his corner early in the match and was looking to tag EC3, who showed no interest, so Storm checked in. EC3 bickered with the referee at 3:00 while the AAA wrestlers worked over Edwards behind the ref’s back. Later, Storm made a tag to EC3, who worked over Fantasma and Texano at 8:50 while Pagano just chilled in the corner and watched.

EC3 tried to fire up the crowd and didn’t have much luck. Borash questioned if EC3 is such an egomaniac that he wanted to win the match singlehandedly. Mathews said yes. Edwards did a suicide dive and hit EC3 along with an opponent. In the ring, Pagano was catapulted over the top rope by Storm and onto everyone at ringside. Storm went up top and flipped onto everyone else.

At 12:10, everyone was down in the ring. The referee, who looks like he hasn’t gone through puberty yet, counted until EC3 and Texano stood up. Fantasma set up for a suicide dive, but Edwards cut him off with a kick. However, Fantasma ended up performing a wicked piledriver on Edwards. In the ring, Pagano hit a top rope leg drop on EC3. Moments later, EC3 low blowed Pagano and Texano and then performed a double One Percenter on both men.

EC3 went to the corner and told Storm to kick their heads off before tagg him into the match. Storm hit a Last Call superkick on Pagano and pinned him. EC3 went to ringside and brought a couple of beers into the ring to celebrate with Storm while Edwards was still recovering on the floor. Storm climbed onto the second rope and poured some beer into the mouth of Edwards…

EC3, James Storm, and Eddie Edwards beat El Hijo Del Fantasma, Pagano, and El Texano Jr. in 15:30.

Powell’s POV: Another match that just never clicked. The story of EC3 pouting felt like it was addressed a while back and then just popped up again out of nowhere. Pagano didn’t seem to be very interested in doing much in this match. It seemed poorly laid out (or executed) and the fans didn’t seem all that invested.

Backstage, McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Eli Drake and Chris Adonis. She tried to ask Drake a question, but Adonis took the mic from her spoke briefly before handing the mic to Drake. Eli said he’s the champ and Johnny Impact is not. Drake said the only thing Impact deserves is a one way ticket to having his ass stomped… A video package set up the tag title match…

A shot aired of a man on the ground backstage with a Mexican flag covering his head and the top half of his body…

5. “OVE” Jake Crist and Dave Crist vs. “LAX” Ortiz and Santana (w/Konnan) in a 5150 Street Fight for the Impact Wrestling Tag Titles. Borash assumed that the man laid out backstage was Homicide since he didn’t accompany LAX to ringside. Diamante was also absent. LAX dove onto OVE as the champions were heading to the ring. The teams brawled at ringside.

Ortiz powerbombed Jake off the stage and through a table. LAX put Dave on a table. Santana climbed up some scaffolding and performed an insane splash that put Dave through a table. Wow. Jake recovered at ringside and worked over Ortiz with a chair and then set up four more in the ring. Dave superplexed Ortiz over the chairs and landed on all four chairs himself. Ouch. Jake covered Ortiz for two, and Santana ran in to break it up as well.

At 7:10, LAX performed a double team move off the ropes that put Jake onto a batch of chairs. Dave returned to break up the pin. The fans chanted “this is awesome.” Ortiz set up a table at ringside. Sami Callihan showed up to a flat reaction and threw powder in the eyes of Konnan. Callihan performed a piledriver on Ortiz off the apron and through a table at ringside. OVE covered Santana and pinned him inside the ring…

OVE defeated LAX in 10:35 in a 5150 Street Fight to retain the Impact Wrestling Tag Titles.

After the match, Callihan took the mic and said, “We are Ohio versus everything.” He added “thumbs up, thumbs down” and then dropped the mic…

Powell’s POV: This appeared to be a double turn. If so, it wasn’t executed well in that the broadcast team didn’t make it seem that way, nor did the post match promo. Perhaps it wasn’t, but it was odd that Callihan ran out and helped OVE when Konnan didn’t do much and the other members of LAX were absent. Although the initial reaction for Callihan seemed flat, there were some fans who cheered him later, but this was not a strong debut. On the plus side, the effort was there and this was easily the most memorable match of the night.

A video package set up the Knockouts Title match… Mitchell interviewed Kim briefly backstage. Kim hugged her before heading to the ring…

6. Sienna vs. Gail Kim vs. Allie for the Knockouts Championship. Former WWE wrestler Anthony Carelli, who worked as Santino Marella in WWE, was shown sitting in the crowd during the ring entrances. The babyface challengers worked together to clear the champion from the ring during the opening minute.

Later, Allie pulled Kim face first into the corner and then hit her with running elbows until Sienna knocked her down. Sienna choked Kim with her own hair briefly. Sienna performed a nice fallaway slam from the second rope on Allie. Sienna also took Kim down and covered both women. The referee wouldn’t count until she technically touched Allie, whose shoulders were down.

At 8:35, Allie performed a Codebreaker on Sienna. Kim performed Eat Defeat on Allie and covered her, but Sienna broke it up. A short time later, Kim performed Eat Defeat on Allie and pinned her…

Gail Kim defeated Sienna and Allie in 9:40 to win the Knockouts Championship in 9:40.

Powell’s POV: The right result with Kim going over in her final BFG match in front of her home country crowd. They must be running short on time because they cut away from the celebration and never bothered to show the replay. It’s too bad because this should have been the feel good moment of the night.

Backstage, Dan Lambert gave a speech to Lashley, King Mo, and the nameless fighters from American Top Team… Borash said Kim would have something to say on Impact about her final match. Borash said she was retiring on top as Knockouts Champion…

As the broadcast team was talking, Jimmy Jacobs walked onto the stage and headed down the ramp. Once he got near the bottom, Jacobs turned and went back to the broadcast team. Borash asked Jacobs what he was doing there. Jacobs said it was BFG and asked where else he would be. Borash said Jacobs doesn’t work there. Jacobs said that’s what Borash thinks…

Powell’s POV: Jacobs received no reaction from the live crowd. Ouch. It’s been a while since he meant something as a regular in Ring of Honor, but you’d think some fans would be more excited to see him given the controversy surrounding his WWE firing over the selfie with Bullet Club and his appearance at the end of the last ROH pay-per-view.

A video package aired on the tag team cage match… Moose and Stephan Bonnar were shown pumping each other up backstage… The broadcast team spoke about Lambert going too far. Mathews acknowledged that Colby Covington is one of the ATT fighters…

7. Moose and Stephan Bonnar vs. Lashley and King Mo (w/Dan Lambert, American Top Team fighters) in a cage match. A rapper performed while walking to the ring with Moose and Bonnar. All four men fought at once. The MMA fighters squared off. Mo took down Bonner, who put him in an armbar. Lashley sold in one corner while Moose laid on the mat and watched the MMA guys roll.

The cage door was unlocked by Lambert around 7:00. Mathews said the ATT fighters took out the ringside referee and opened the door. The ATT fighters entered the cage while Lambert stayed at ringside. Moose ran the ropes and dove onto two of the ATT fighters. Covington begged off and tried to leave the cage, but Moose caught him and performed a sit-out powerbomb from the top rope. Damn.

Moose kicked Mo off the apron and through the door to the floor. Moose followed Mo to ringside. Lambert put Mo back inside the cage while Moose was down on the floor. Lambert entered the cage and locked the door behind him. Bonnar fought off some of the fighters until Covington hit him from behind. Moose climbed the outside of the cage and dove onto some of the ATT guys. He got his hands on Lambert, but the ATT guys hit him from behind. Lashley speared Moose and pinned him…

Lashley and King Mo defeated Moose and Stephan Bonnar.

Powell’s POV: A train wreck. The only redeeming quality was the effort of Moose. So I guess pro wrestlers really are the shitty fighters that Lambert said they are and we’re not finished with “Deep Pockets’ Dan and his MMA fighters. It would take he greatest main event in the history of pro wrestling to save this show.

McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Johnny Impact backstage. He said he’s invested in himself for the last 15 years. He spoke about the things he’s given up in life and how his investment will pay off at the end of the night…

8. Eli Drake (w/Chris Adonis) vs. Johnny Impact for the Impact Wrestling Championship. Masters got involved early on by clubbing Impact with shots to the chest while the ref was caught up with Drake. My feed went to hell temporarily, so I missed a few minutes of the match. The feed returned with Drake and Impact fighting for position on the ropes. Impact won that battle and it led to a two count, as did a standing shooting star press. The feed went to hell again, but it returned with both men on the top rope. Impact performed the Spanish Fly for a good near fall.

Adonis slid the title belt into the ring. Impact apparently took out Adonis (buffering issues). Drake went for his Gravy Train finisher, but Impact rolled him up for a two count. More buffering. Alberto El Patron apparently prevented Impact from winning the match. Impact dove at him at ringside, but ended up taking out the referee instead. El Patron hit Drake with a title belt. El Patron tossed Impact and then the referee inside the ring. El Patron hit Impact with a chair over the head and then placed Drake over Impact. The referee counted the three…

Eli Drake defeated Johnny Impact to retain the Impact Wrestling Championship.

Powell’s POV: I can’t fairly comment on match quality given that I experienced a lot of buffering issues during the match. However, I can tell you that the finish was par for the course in TNA. They can call this company whatever they want, but this was a bush league TNA finish. And a chair shot to the head in 2017? Come on. This finish actually occurred on the company’s self-proclaimed biggest even of the year. Awful. It doesn’t seem to matter who books the shows, they just continue to make the same stupid mistakes. Overall, a poor show with few redeeming qualities. Here’s hoping the television tapings will be better because the new creative regime made a lousy first impression.