By Jason Powell
These predictions were made with no help from the betting lines because, well, I don’t think they have betting odds for this event. Either way, I’m guessing just like you are. Join me for live coverage of Impact Wrestling Bound For Glory at 7CT/8ET. Dot Net Members will have exclusive access to the audio review that I will record after the show. Join us on the ad-free version of Prowrestling.net to gain access to over nine years of audio content via the Dot Net Members’ Signup Page.
Yet another new era in Impact Wrestling begins in the form of a new creative regime that replaces the Jeff Jarrett led crew. My unsolicited advice for new creative is the same advice that I’ve offered for every Impact creative regime when it comes to their pay-per-view events – keep it simple. Present a show with clean finishes and without a bunch of silly ref bumps, authority figure nonsense, and owls. Let the wrestlers work their magic and carry the show. As down as I have been on the recent television product, I am looking forward to this event because new creative brings new hope, and because it will be cool to see Impact Wrestling play in front of a new live crowd in the form of the fans who attend the show at the Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa, Ontario.
Eli Drake vs. Johnny Impact for the Impact Wrestling Championship: It’s hard to get a feel for what the new creative team’s philosophies are. In this case, I’ll simply say that I would keep the title on Drake and I’d do so in clean fashion. I’m sure the temptation is there to book the babyface going over clean to deliver a happy ending to the show. Drake is fresh and I believe he’s a guy the company can build around. He needs to be booked as a credible champion, not as a pest champion who can only win if he gets help from Chris Adonis. This is more of a “here’s how I’d do it” than an actual prediction…
Eli Drake retains the Impact Wrestling Title.
Sienna vs. Gail Kim vs. Allie in a Triple Threat for the Knockouts Title: It’s Gail Kim’s final Bound For Glory event. She’s from Canada. There will be intrigue in her title defenses because she has stated that she will retire at the end of the year. They could have her retire with the title as a tip of the cap to the pioneer of the division or they could have her pass the torch before she makes her exit. Either way, I like the idea of Kim getting one more title reign. It will be interesting to see if they add Rosemary to this match now that dance partner Taya Valkyrie had to pull out of the show due to “personal reasons.”
Gail Kim wins the Knockouts Title.
OVE vs. LAX in a 5150 Street Fight for the Impact Wrestling Tag Titles: The cat is out of the bag when it comes to Sami Callihan being the “family” that OVE said they were bringing in for help in this match that basically allows tons of outside interference. Will OVE become Ontario Versus Everything for the week? I would put the tag titles back on LAX because they are one of the best acts the company has going and because OVE just hasn’t clicked as babyfaces. It should be easier for OVE to get over if they are chasing the titles rather than defending them. However, the addition of Callihan leads me to believe that the babyfaces will retain.
OVE retain the Impact Wrestling Tag Titles.
Moose and Stephan Bonnar vs. Lashley and King Mo: The right outcome of this match became clear when “Deep Pockets” Dan Lambert stood in the middle of the ring and said pro wrestlers are poor fighters. The only place they can go with this in my mind is having the babyface pro wrestler and his MMA buddy go over. Sure, they could have the heels cheat to win to drag this out, but the sooner this mess of a feud ends the better. This company desperately needs to get Lashley back on track. In order to do so, he needs to go back to being Lashley the wrestler, not Lashley the guy who sides with his nameless MMA buddies.
Moose and Stephan Bonnar win.
EC3, James Storm, and Eddie Edwards vs. El Hijo Del Fantasma, Pagano, and El Texano Jr.: Storm and EC3 were getting along just fine until they aired footage from Mexico that showed them bickering again. Worse yet, the same footage showed Storm working with his enemy Texano. The same match also showed us that Fantasma and Texano hate one another even though we’d seen no sign of that before. This is a disaster and it’s a shame that former world champions EC3, Storm, and Edwards are not involved in something that feels bigger on the company’s biggest show of the year. On the bright side, this has the potential to be a good six-man tag match. I don’t have a strong feeling about the outcome, but I’ll go with the hometown team.
EC3, Storm, and Edwards win.
Abyss vs. Grado in a Monster’s Ball: My guess is that this is the Jeremy Borash match of the night in that it’s a comedic match that leaves the venue and then features a lot of wacky pre-taped footage similar to what we saw from the Broken Hardys and from the Joseph Park and Jeremy Broash vs. Josh Mathews and Scott Steiner match. The funny thing about the match is that they are fighting over Grado’s work visa, which allows him to stay in the United States. The show is in Canada, which opens the door for Abyss to win, yet for Grado to stay with the company now that they tapings are being held in Canada. This is another match that I don’t have a strong feeling about. It’s time for the trusty pick’em quarter.
Heads: Abyss wins.
Trevor Lee vs. Matt Sydal vs. Garza Jr. vs. Petey Williams vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Dezmond Xavier for the X Division Title: The more things change the more they stay the same. One of the few bright spots of the previous creative regime was that they got back to featuring X Division singles matches, yet here we are with the TNA staple of a six-way train wreck style match for the X Division Title. Oddly, we just saw a non-title version of this same match on Thursday’s Impact. Xavier won that match, so I’ll rule him out from winning this one. Williams would be the feel good winner given his Canadian heritage. I’d put over Lee and abandon this awful storyline that he’s a cult leader who has brainwashed Andrew Everett and Caleb Konley. I’m all for the trio working together, but Lee isn’t believable in that role, and it defines Everett and Konley as meaningless minions. Ultimately, though, Williams going over with the Canadian Destroyer in Canada seems like the easiest way to get the live crowd going.
Petey Williams wins the X Division Title.
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