Bound for Glory (2017) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Impact Wrestling. It took place on November 5, 2017 at the Aberdeen Pavilion in Ottawa, Ontario. It was the thirteenth event under the Bound for Glory chronology, the second and last Impact pay-per-view event of 2017. It is also notable for 8-time womens' champion Gail Kim's final match, retiring from professional wrestling after the event.
6-Way Match for the X-Division Championship - Trevor Lee (c) def. Desmond Xavier, Petey Williams, Sonjay Dutt, Garza Jr., and Matt Sydal to retain
I'm glad that this wasn't one of tired and cliched Ultimate X Matches that tend to open these BFG PPVs with all of the X-Division guys just dumped in there with no storyline nor reason. This match has a story - Dutt wants to end his feud with Trevor Lee once and for all that has been spanning the last few months with the rest of the division wanting a piece of this action as well.
Desmond Xavier shocks the hell out of me every time I see this dude do something nuts in these X-Division matches. Garza Jr. is slowly winning me over with his antics and ringwork while everyone else in this match, especially Matt Sydal and Petey Williams, made this a fun match to kick this show off. I was a little disappointed that they let Trevor Lee retain when this crowd was red hot for Petey Williams in this match, especially after he applied the Sharpshooter and Canadian Destroyer.
Taiji Ishimori def. Tyson Dux
I thought it was in bad taste to have Laurel Van Ness distracting the live crowd during this match. Ishimori and Dux were having a pretty sweet hard-hitting match here. No need to distract from that when this match was far from the drizzling shits. A little too short for my taste.
Alberto El Patron Shoots ON TNA Management
Up next, we have a worked shoot with Alberto out in the ring talking about how he was wrongfully accused for what went down with his suspension. I don't see how people were buying into this as if it was legit, someone would have cut off his mic and sent someone down there to shut him up instead of allowing him to ramble on and on this long. He threats to make an example of an "impact" out of JB but backs off, ending this segment awkwardly as it started.
Monster's Ball - Abyss def. Grado
Abyss is taking a page from Kane these days with it looking like he's gluing hair to his mask too. I got a good kick out of Grado dressed like Mick Foley for this match. It would've been more hilarious if he came out in protection gear like Norman Smiley in WCW from his hardcore days. I enjoyed how they worked Rosemary and Laurel Van Ness into this match. I freakin' love how Rosemary's facepaint has evolved over the past few years that she's been in TNA to the point now where she looks like a cross between Venom/Carnage, Finn Balor's Demon, and so many other things that go bump in the night. Don'tcha love how Abyss always finds a way to bring Janice into these matches but never actually hits someone with that damn thing? If this one of those crazy Japanese deathmatches, someone would've been sliced apart with that thing by now.
Glad Grado didn't win here as he was botching left and right here. He didn't know where the weapons were at times and the few limited moves he could do, he was half-assing them. Just put him out of his misery and end this storyline for all of our sakes despite the few good laughs we've gotten at his expense. Despite the fact that I liked Rosemary and LVN's involvement towards the end, this was easily the weakest match to this point.
Team Impact (Grand Champion Ethan Carter III, James Storm, and GHC Heavyweight Champion Eddie Edwards) Team AAA (Texano Jr., Pagano, Hijo del Phantasma)
EC3 played it off for the first half like he wanted nothing to do with his team, but it was only a swerve to create a sense of doubt that Team Impact wasn't going to be on the same page here. Much like the X-Division match that kicked off this show, this was a match with a lot of fun spots, but it dragged a lot at the beginning. Crazy to see James Storm throwing himself out of the ring doing high spots like a cruiserweight though.
5150 Match for the Impact Tag Team Championships - oVe (c) def. LAX
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| As you can see here, Lucha Underground's Sami Callihan/Jeremiah Crane made his debut tonight as the impromptu third man to oVe. |
Simply put, this was a crazy as fuck of a match here in terms of high risks spots. Do yourself a favor and watch this match just to see the pure insanity that these men put their bodies through in this match from bell to bell.
Knockouts Championship Match - Gail Kim def. Sienna (c) and Allie
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| I get what they were trying to do here, but it looks like Sienna is just sitting on Gail and Allie's backs while Gail's hugging Allie LMFAO... |
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| Allie getting her Trish Stratus on with a Stratusfaction here and later in this match does Chris Jericho proud with a Codebreaker. |
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| Kinda sloppy on the execution but I liked the Top Rope Eat Defeat for the win here. |
Gail Kim decided to wear see-through bottoms... 'Nuff said. Loved that ringside Stratusfaction spot by Allie and the Double German Suplex on Allie and Gail by Sienna. The Top Rope Eat Defeat for the win was a nice touch even though Allie didn't need to take that AK-47 to the ringside floor. I just cringe at the amount of unnecessary BRUTAL bumps people on this roster
Lashley and King Mo (with American Top Team and Dan Lambert) def. Moose and Stephan Bonnar
This match was a LOT better than I was expecting it was going to be going in, especially for King Mo and Stephan Bonnar. They made sure to keep their in-ring involvement to a MINIMUM while Lashley and Moose did the bulk of the heavy hitting. I wasn't sold on the American Top Team storyline at first, but over the build up for the last few months truly won me over. If Impact Wrestling wants to position these guys as their top heel faction for years to come, then I'm perfectly fine with that. This was one of those few MMA meets pro wrestling crossovers that didn't feel forced like teased Horsewomen vs Horsewomen feud during WWE's Mae Young Classic or Rampage Jackson and King Mo's initial appearances in TNA Wrestling in the past.
Eli Drake (c) (with Chris Adonis) defeated Johnny Impact
I felt that this match dragged on FAR too long for my taste, despite their chemistry and some slick acrobatics by Johnny Impact here. The interference from El Patron didn't do anything for me here, especially for a show that seems to ALWAYS have a shitload of interference in these Bound for Glory main events. |
| That was a slick spot, but damn I've seen FAR too many memes making fun of it. |
*** BONUS: *** Thoughts on Gail Kim's Farewell Speech & pending Knockouts Championship Tournament
Sad to see Gail Kim go, but rarely wrestlers get to go out on their own terms before being sidelined to the point where they HAVE to retire. Gail pulled a Trish Stratus and won the title once more (breaking the record at most Knockout title reigns to date) while simultaneously being the first in TNA to do so on Canadian soil to book. I'm going to miss seeing her compete but I hope this means that she stays in the game as a trainer/mentor. She shouldn't allow her great mind for women's wrestling to go to waste. A LOT of women can learn from her and help the sport continue to thrive and evolve for the ladies. #ThankYouGailKim
Closing Thoughts
Bound for Glory wasn't a bad show, just a rather overbooked show at some points. They started off with a great opener with the X-Division then that singles between Ishiimori and Dux that showed off a lot of good in this company before El Patron dragged the momentum down with that worked shoot of a promo. What followed that was a botchtacular Monsters' Ball match followed by ANOTHER two matches of guys throwing each other around recklessly. The girls did a little too much for my taste too, but it was Gail's last match so I can understand that. The Steel Cage Match was fine for the most part while the main event fell into the tired trend of too much interference like I mentioned above. This is a show that seems to try too hard, but at the same time, I feel like their efforts went mostly on deaf ears and won't bring in any new viewers outside of the loyalists who have been with them through everything at this point.
I want to see Impact Wrestling continue to survive and grow in 2018, but at this point, even I'm wondering what changes would they have to do to get back into the good graces of the wrestling fans.
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