Bound For Glory 2019: Honest Review

Last night was the turn of IMPACT Wrestling to make their own IMPACT and with competition in the form of the WWE and AEW the underdog of the wrestling world had a lot to prove! With a stacked card there was plenty to look forward to but it was clear from the get-go this was going to be a show fans either loved or hated with its controversy and risky booking decisions but what were the best moments of the evening?

Surprise after Surprise

The opening contest was an entertaining one at that. Any show that stars off with a battle royal of sorts has my attention and IMPACT wrestling pulled this off every well indeed! Providing everything needed in a match of his style the only thing I would have changed was giving it more time however, from storytelling to character development this was a brilliant opening contest that left everyone very excited for the rest of the evening. What made this such a great and successful battle royal was the surprises the company through at us. With entrants from the likes of Joey Ryan, Swoggle and Kylie Rae IMPACT provided its audience with surprise after surprise and while the end result didn’t leave audiences stunned the surprise entrants really were unexpected and added what was really needed here not to mention sending a huge message with the new faces!

The Reign Continues

As the longest-reigning Knockouts champion of all time Taya Valkyrie has truly made an impact throughout her run as champ and last night, she looked to continue her reign of dominance when she stood toe to toe with fan favourite Tenille Dashwood. Now, If I’m being honest, I was expecting Tenille to walk away as the new champ and so I was surprised to see Taya retain the title come the end of this match. Despite the end result, however, it appears as though things are from over between these two women and we could very well see a rematch take place very soon which could, in fact, see a new champion crowned. However, if Dashwood is not destined to become the new Knockouts champion then its time for IMPACT to start looking at other women who are shining within the division right now. This math for me did have a disappointing ending.

Rob Van Dam Turns on Rhyno

The work from the tag team division did have some of my attention. We had good quality wrestling and exciting spots throughout and there is no denying that! The North retaining their titles didn’t come as a surprise what so ever, the pair are growing massively and have been a huge standout in the IMPACT zone this year and last night was a clear example of just how far they have come as well as shining as another night the pair stood out as one of the best tag teams on the scene today. Now, one of the biggest moments of the evening and another surprise came during this match when RVD turned on tag team partner Rhyno in a little twist of events. I didn’t personally see this coming but I’m so glad it was booked. The turn added more to this match and made it even more memorable while fans can now look forward to a classic rivalry between two all-time greats in the coming weeks.

Tessa’s Evening

While she, unfortunately, didn’t walk away with the win and become the X Division champion last night Tessa Blanchard had an incredible evening. This was one of my favourite matches of the entire night and I have to admit I was pulling for Blanchard the whole way through and was massively disappointed with the end result. Of course, Ace Austin’s win ties in well with Eddie Edwards big victory early in the evening and we can expect work between those two in the coming weeks or months once again, however, I cannot shake off the feeling that a mistake was made here. The timing was right for Tessa to walk away with the win and prove a huge point and I do believe IMPACT really dropped the ball and missed out on something big here! The match, however, was fantastic! We had several very exciting spots and Blanchard most certainly had her moment in the spotlight.

Moose Adds to His Momentum

If I’m being totally honest, I didn’t have all too much interest in Moose vs Ken Shamrock. While the video package was great I wasn’t sold on the angle and the decision to keep this match relatively short was a good move on the behalf of IMPACT. It was a close call contest and I genuinely wasn’t sure what to expect from the end result but seeing Moose score the win made sense and worked well. Moose was able to add to his momentum here and the concept of the match gave the night a little edge and something different to the rest of the evening.

Elgin vs Marufuji

Despite the fact I’m very much anti-Michael Elgin even I have to admit this was a brilliant match up. I wasn’t personally sold on the build but the longer this match went on the more I found myself completely hooked. The two had excellent chemistry and the match gave fans everything you could ask for. The action was intense, the wrestling was fantastic and both men brought their A-game. Again, this was a tough one to call and I genuinely didn’t know who was going to walk away the victor. With so many near finishes, it was impossible to predict just who would gain the upper hand but come the end of the contest it was the larger and slightly more hungry and intense star in Michael Elgin who scored the win but what an incredible standout performance from Naomichi Maruguji. This match really did raise the bar for the entire evening.

The Main Event

The twenty nineteen Bound for Glory Main event was right up my street. With a new DQ stipulation attached to this title contest, I knew this was going to be a match I was sure to enjoy especially with personal favourites Cage and Sami Callihan competing against one another. With both men so different from one another and such a personal build, this was a must-see contest with an end result that could have gone either way. The match stipulation in ways benefited Callihan but what we saw here was Brian Cage use his heart and emotions to his own advantage and unleashed monster within him. There were so many close moments in this contest and within seconds of the bell being rang we saw blood drawn and intensity. You could feel how much this match meant to both men and fans saw how far both were willing to go to walk out as champ but in the end, it was Brian Cage who retained the title and while it may not have been the way I personally would have wanted the match to end I did enjoy the contest overall and I wasn't surprised to see the title remain on the shoulder of Cage who is proving to be one heck of a champion!

And that was Bound for Glory twenty nineteen! I’ll be honest and say that while I enjoyed pretty much every single match on the card some of the booking decisions did throw me off. The likes of Dashwood and Blanchard not picking up a victory most certainly surprised me but overall IMPACT wrestling proved to be a true dark horse in the world pro wrestling. In a time where competition is so high, they proved there is more to come and fans should most certainly be tuning in!

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