TNA Bound for Glory: A Live Perspective as Hulkamania Runs Wild One More Time

This past Sunday I attended my first pay-per-view since the 2005 Survivor Series. I traveled from central Connecticut to Philadelphia, PA to attend TNA’s biggest show of the year Bound for Glory.

I must say, it was quite the experience.

My friends and I missed the preshow match for the Tag Team Titles between champions Mexican America and their challengers Ink Inc.

Finding a place to park was not a fun time.

I heard it was an OK match so I guess I didn’t miss much. Would have loved to seen Sarita, though.

We arrived at our seats just in time for the opening video. As soon as it finished, Brian Kendrick made his way to the ring to a mixed reaction from the crowd. Despite being the face in the match, the crowd wasn’t in favor of him.

Enter the X-Division Champion Austin Aries to a great reaction. Philadelphia was definitely favoring the heel in this one.

The match itself was great. It had good back-and-forth action throughout with some nice spots here and there.

Aries was playing to the crowd as a tweener; telling us to shut up one minute, then pumping us up for his signature elbow drop the next. He is really a sight to see live.

The crowd was behind A Double the entire time and loved it when he retained the title.

This was a great way to open the show and the crowd was into the match the whole time.

As soon as the video hyping Full Metal Mayhem came on, the former home of Extreme Championship Wrestling went nuts. We were about to see two ECW legends beat the hell out of each other.

Jerry Lynn was out first to a good reaction while the crowd went nuts for Rob Van Dam.

The match, while disappointingly short, brought us all back to the good old days of the extreme style of wrestling. I’m not sure how this came across on television, but this match was quite awesome live.

The spots with the ladder looked really cool, and painful, and seeing the Van Terminator was an experience in itself. Seeing that move on television does not do it justice.

The crowd was into the whole match and there were plenty of ECW chants. We went crazy when Van Dam picked up the victory, but like I said, the match was too short.

There was also some disappointment, at least in my section, that Van Dam did not use the five-star frog splash.

Overall, though, it was a very enjoyable match that the pro-ECW crowd ate up.

The triple threat match was next and the crowd was definitely behind the Samoan Submission Machine Samoa Joe.

My friends and I were cheering a bit for Matt Morgan, though, as he is a fellow nutmegger.

No one seemed to be behind Crimson. There were a lot of jokes in the crowd comparing him to Goldberg.

That first Goldberg chant? That was started by my section!

Speaking of chants, there were plenty of “Joe’s gonna kill you” chants as the crowd was favoring the heel.

This match was a lot shorter than expected, which was a bit disappointing. Though short, I did enjoy the match and the mind games played by Joe.

He kept giving one of the faces the opportunity to attack the other but they always refused. They finally went to blows, though, but it didn’t last long.

I like the story going on here; it sets up the eventual Crimson vs. Matt Morgan match.

There were quite a few boos when Crimson picked up the victory. The Philly crowd was not buying into his hype. It seems like TNA's trying to push him down our throats isn’t working outside the Impact Zone.

The match wasn’t bad; it just needed a little more time.

A backstage interview with Bully Ray brought an eruption of cheers but his bashing of Philly brought hatred for the former ECW wrestler.

I was still cheering, though, as I love Ray as a heel.

He made his way to the ring to a mixed reaction while Mr. Anderson got quite the warm response. The match itself was great with some good spots.

Ray putting down Philly in front of the crowd on Anderson’s microphone was the work of one of today’s best heels. Seeing that man do his thing live was awesome. He really knows how to get under a crowd’s skin and make them hate his very existence.

It was cool seeing the steel barricade brought into play and into the ring as they both ended up being slammed on it.

When they went backstage I was hoping that they’d come back out right by me. There were some weapons so I figured that they would since RVD and Lynn did not. Unfortunately they didn’t either, but they were still beating the hell out of each other, so that’s all that mattered.

The audible they played at the end was good stuff.

“The table didn’t break? No problem; I’ll just Mic Check you through it!”

This was a very physical match and came across great in front of the live crowd, who loved every second of it.

By now, I’m having the time of my life. The crowd atmosphere was great and it was making for a great time.

The Knockout’s match was an overall disappointment, though.

Not the outcome; I loved the outcome! The match itself was a letdown.

When it turned out to be that weird fatal-four way that TNA does where there are only two wrestlers in the ring I let out a disappointing sigh. Inserting Karen Jarrett as the special referee killed the match for me.

All four Knockout’s were trying their hardest to put on a good match, especially Velvet Sky and Mickie James, but Karen’s heel persona really brought it down many pegs.

She kept getting in the way and that is why the crowd crapped all over the beginning of the match. Not sure if it came across on television, but there was a boring chant from one of the section across from me.

I understand that Karen didn’t want Mickie or Velvet winning, but she just got in the way and it killed the majority of the match.

The crowd finally started to get into the match at the very end when Winter accidently spit the mist into Karen’s eyes. That gave Velvet the chance to hit her finisher while Traci Brooks counted the three.

We went nuts when Velvet Sky finally won her first title. At the same time, though, many could have just been cheering because the match was finally over.

Personally, I was cheering for Velvet!

This match could have been great if it was a traditional fatal-four way and if Karen wasn’t the referee. Karen is doing nothing but hurting the Knockout’s Division and it showed on Sunday.

I was really looking forward to this match because all four women are good in the ring. Not counting Velvet winning the title, the match left a bad taste in my mouth overall.

My spirits quickly lifted when the I quit match was announced as next. A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels have put on a five-star showcase every time they’ve met in the ring. I was extremely excited because I was going to see it happen again, this time with me in the audience.

Daniels came out to a mixed reaction while Styles was certainly well liked in Philly.

The match was great, minus the ending.

Throughout the whole match we were treated to some great wrestling and some acts of violence. The match was mostly dominated by Daniels until Styles had his flurry of offense.

It was very cool seeing Styles hitting some of his trademark moves live.

While we loved that Styles picked up the win, the crowd didn’t like the way it ended. Daniels’ life was threatened by a screwdriver so he quit and ran away?

Very lame.

Since the feud seems to be continuing after Daniels attacked Styles post-match, I understand why it ended the way it did, but sitting there and watching it happen live before my eyes was a bit of a letdown.

Overall, though, it was a good match and I was ready to see two legends go at it!

To our surprise, Jeff Jarrett made his way to the ring. Being a heel, yet the founder of the company, he got a mixed reaction.

He called out Jeff Hardy who the crowd loved to see.

I figured we’d see them both get involved later, so this was a nice surprise.

Much to our delight, they went at each other. As it was broken up, there were boos from the audience, and can you blame us?

We wanted to see Hardy kick Jarrett’s ass and give him a Swanton Bomb!

As soon as the ring cleared, Dixie Carter walked right by me.

Then it hit me, it was time!

I was about to see Hulk Hogan and Sting enter the ring as opponents one more time.

I’ve seen Hogan wrestle live many times, both in WWF/E and WCW, and I have seen Sting in the ring in both his surfer and crow gimmick. I’ve never seen them face each other while in the audience, though.

When Hogan’s music hit, I shot out of my seat! Well, everyone shot out of their seats. Despite being the bad guy, the roof blew off the building.

Then Sting came out, and the roof once again exploded off. I’ve been a part of many wrestling crowds, but never have I experienced an atmosphere like this.

The bell rang, but there was one more surprise.

The building exploded when Ric Flair’s music hit. Three of wrestling’s biggest names were before our eyes.

Not one person was sitting the entire match.

The Hulkster dominated the beginning until the unthinkable happened. Sting punched Hulk and he took a bump. I cringed when he hit the ground because I didn’t think he was going to get back up.

He did get up, and he took more bumps. Everyone thought, myself included, that he wouldn’t hit the ground until the end of the match, but he shut everyone up. He took those bumps, despite it being obvious that it was causing him extreme pain.

Sting won, so now the company goes back to Dixie.

It didn’t take long for Immortal to hit the ring and beat down the Stinger.

As Hulk was getting up, he watched as it all went down. Covered in blood, he looked to the crowd. We were cheering to no end.

Then it happened!

Hulk Hogan was hulking up and he ripped off his shirt! Hulkamania was back and the eruption of the crowd was so huge that people walking outside the building had to have heard it.

It was the Hulkster vs. the bad guys once again.

He and Sting took out Immortal and shook hands to another thunderous ovation.

I don’t know how it came across to those that watched it on television, but I guarantee that it didn’t do justice to the crowd reaction during the whole thing.

The match was bad of course, but it wasn’t the train wreck everyone expected it to be.

This was without a doubt the greatest moment I have ever experienced at a wrestling event!

I can’t speak for anyone else in the crowd, but I was exhausted after that. I saved enough energy for the main event, though.

Both Bobby Roode and Kurt Angle came out to good reactions. There were many “Let’s go Bobby” chants but not many of them caught on with the rest of the crowd.

To me, that shows that TNA has to get out of the Impact Zone more often. A wrestler may be extremely popular there, but not at another venue.

Angle’s leg was heavily taped but it didn’t seem to hinder his movement much as we got to see him hit his usual moves.

Every time there was a near fall, the crowd went crazy. Whether it was Angle getting two-and-a-half or it was Roode, we were at the edge of our seats.

Despite there being less than expected support for Roode, it was obvious the crowd wanted him to win. When Angle won by using the ropes for leverage there was uproar from the crowd.

People were not pleased with the way the match ended.

Much like Styles vs. Daniels, this was a good match with a bad ending.

Overall my experience at TNA Bound for Glory was an awesome one! Despite a few disappointments, the night was great.

The crowd was hot the whole night, with the exception of the Knockout’s match. A TNA audience really gets involved during the shows which I really enjoyed.

I have been to many wrestling events and the atmosphere of this crowd was by far the best I have ever experienced.

Before I sign off, let’s look at some statistics for the event.

Predictions: 7-2

Biggest Pops:

1. Hogan/Sting/Flair
2. Rob Van Dam
3. A.J. Styles
4. Mr. Anderson
5. Jeff Hardy

Most Heat

1. Bully Ray
2. Immortal
3. Kurt Angle
4. Brian Kendrick
5. Crimson

Match of the Night: Bully Ray vs. Mr. Anderson

Dud of the Night: Knockout’s Title match

Disappointment of the Night: Bobby Roode losing

Best Moment of the Night: Hulkamania running wild

Well, thanks for reading!