BOUND FOR GLORY (no visible spoilers)
Big city (NY, NY) but definitely not a big venue. Smaller than the previous big show, and the look is very much less glamor and more super-indy.
Happy to see Willie Mack get a run in the opening tag (with Rich Swann, versus Matt Sydal and Ethan Page). Good action, crowd into it. The space between the ring and barricades is dangerously small.
I honestly have no idea if the second match went as planned: I’m guessing not. Eli Drake comes out, runs his mouth off at all those DUMMIES, and calls out a mystery challenger… and it’s Ellsworth. Clearly meant to be the babyface, but the crowd is NOT having that. HARSH but funny.
Eli finishes him off pretty quickly and complains about the level of competition. He expected “Hall of Fame” quality… which makes some hope for Y2J. Nope, Abyss. Ah well.
Blanchard © vs Valkrye for the Knockouts title is next. This gonna be fun.
Yep, much more brutal than the opening matches. Believable near-falls. A moderately incompetent ref riles the crowd. 2.999999! Yeah, I fell for that one. DUMMY.
“Only” went 11 minutes, but was fun.
Moose vs Eddie Edwards: yeah, I haven’t really been paying attention since Slammiversary, but somehow these two have done a double turn. This is not a hardcore match… and that’s important, because as soon as I write that Killler Kross enters through the crowd and gets the match thrown out. Aaaaaah damn… it’s Tommy Dreamer. And he books a hardcore tag ‘cause… ‘cause.
The early “YOU SICK FARK” chant is well justified.
This is not bad. That chop-off between Eddie and Moose was epic.
The ref looks about 12yo.
Going by the end this story is not over.
Callihan + oVe versus Cage, Pentagon, and Fenix: yowsers. This ring is literally too small for these six guys.
Fenix is doing springboard headbutts. The guy is a freak.
The minimal space available is not stopping them doing all sorts of stuff outside the ring.
Geez, Cage likes getting kicked in the head.
That was 14 minutes of non-stop action.
Old LAX (with Kingston) vs New LAX (with Konnan) is still a thing. Konnan was found beaten up backstage early in the show, which is never a bad thing in my books.
This is a “Concrete Jungle Death Match”, which starts with bare boards and no turnbuckles. One of the boards is sticking up — they try to stomp it back into place and fail.
Within seconds of the start that board entirely pops up and others start sliding and causing unpredictable holes to break your leg in. Not good.
Wood is slippery, too. Turns out mats are good things.
It makes for a fascinating visual and audio show, though: a superplex is one hell of a lot more interesting onto bare shifting boards.
Ah damn, Konnan is recovered and enters. He got a decent pop, I’ll give him that.
That was not as good as the Slammiversary match, but it damn sure wasn’t boring!
Now fix the damn ring for the main event, please.
Oh yeah, we have an off-site “match” first, as Allie goes back into “the undead realm” to rescue her friend. Don’t ask. It’s one of those Hardy things that Impact do a zillion times better than WWE. She takes a tomahawk with her… and she’s using it.
Blood spatters on the camera. This is not PG.
Su Yung is smart: she has a full-size axe.
Something closely resembling this scene occurs:
Yowsers. Poor Su Yung.
ROSEMARY!!!
THAT WAS AWESOME. And per that ending, not finished either.
Main event is for THE title: Aries © vs Johnny [insert second name here]
That’s an intense first minute. Crowd is split.
Looks almost a shoot fight early. Not either of their normal styles.
Don’t worry, Johnny still does freaky stuff:
Even Callis (on commentary) thinks Aries is a scumbag.
This is two masters of the craft showing they can work a mix of styles (especially Johhny, having had his new wife brought into the fray by Aries over the past week).
Having their entourages ring-side that (very almost) don’t get involved just adds to the best-man-wins atmosphere.
That was an excellent main event. Aries after the finish went a bit wonky. No idea if it was an unplanned shoot, or a work, based on his record.
Apart from Eli Drake, all were matches absolutely worth watching. Eli’s promos and the crowd crapping on Ellsworth was entertaining though. Not as good as Slammiversary, but solid as, with the two singles titles matches absolutely delivering.