In the words of Maria Kanellis: “Do you believe in miracles?”. Well, whether it was a miracle or a carefully thought out plan, TNA were able to go forward with this year’s Bound for Glory as planned. Wonder where Dixie Carter got that last minute funding from? In any event, we’re going to put TNA’s woes to the side to focus on the celebrations hosted for the TNA Hall of Fame inductee Gail Kim, surprise returns, debuts and wars that took place at this year’s Bound for Glory; which by the way, was actually a pretty good show… aside from the Knockouts title match which was, in my opinion, the weakest match on the card. More on that later!
Our first Knockout sighting comes to us backstage during Jermey Borash’s interview with celebrity chef and Gail ’s husband Robert Irvine; though he asks to be referred to as Mr. Gail Kim, as tonight is all about Gail. How cute! He mentions that tonight is a family affair and that his wife has given her life to wrestling but is soon rudely interrupted by the Knockouts champion Maria and her husband Mike Bennett.
Maria says that tonight is really about her, self proclaiming that she is the greatest Knockouts champion that there ever has been. Mike adds that his wife is also the greatest female wrestler ever and notes that tonight is all about Miracles. The Bennetts may need to reconsider this mindset, as Mike would lose his match against Moose.
Before we get to the Knockouts title match, Gail’s showcase TNA Hall of Fame ceremony is next. Get to ready to grab some tissues all of you hardcore Gail Kim fans!
For such a special moment, TNA invited back former ring announcer Christy Hemme. Holding back some tears, Christy calls Gail a legend in this business, who cemented her legacy by building a team and fighting everyday for every women that has ever stepped into the ring.
Christy wasn’t the only former Knockout to show up for this event, come on down Taryn Terrell! Congrats to you as well Taryn on expecting a second child. Taryn takes the mic to call Gail a career maker, crediting Gail for teaching a beginner such as herself and giving her a career that she could be proud of. Taryn closes her gratitude by proudly calling Gail a role model and, more importantly, a friend.
The surprises keep on rolling in as yet another former Knockouts champion is in attendance, welcome back Awesome Kong! Totally didn’t see that coming!
A woman of little words, the upcoming G.L.O.W star says Gail elevates every opponent to their best and that she is loved by many and respected by all.
Finally TNA Chairman Dixie Carter comes out to commence Gail’s big moment after gushing how proud she is of Gail for establishing the Knockouts division for what it is today. With that Gail Kim comes out, looking as stunning as ever, kisses her husband who sitting in the row and embraces the love from the Impact Zone and female talents in the ring.
Gail is presented with a video that highlights her TNA career beginning from being crowned the first Knockouts Champion to present day with kind words from TNA President Billy Corgan, Jade, Madison Rayne, Al Snow, Josh Matthews, Christy Hemme , Pat Kenney and Dave Lagana.
Gail gives a heartfelt acceptance speech, sharing the high and lows she’s faced throughout her career but says she would never have changed a thing. She thanks her long list of people, inside and outside the ring, family, friends and fans alike, for helping her become the woman she is today. Dixie presents Gail with the tradition Rolex watch as a gift for her TNA Hall of Fame induction. We love you Gail!
We move from the highlight moment of the night to the most physical moment of the night: The Great War between The Decay and Broken Hardys for the TNA Tag Team titles.
Reby Hardy is sitting by a piano, playing an obsolete tune for the out of the ordinary entrance for Broken Matt Hardy and Brother Nero where as Rosemary joins Crazzy Steve and Abyss in their traditional entrance.
The bell rings and from the get-go, the Death Dealer trios spit a red mist to Reby and the Great War gets underway! With Reby being sent to the back to recover, Rosemary gets involved in the match, setting up weapons and targeting Matt Hardy with a top tope missile dropkick.
For most of the match, the men do battle all around the area, with Rosemary only getting back involved when Matt nearly pins Abyss for the three count after he hits a barbwire board flying elbow drop on The Monster. For her punishment, Rosemary gets power bombed through a table by a returning Reby.
The Hardys would win the match and Tag Team titles after Brother Nero obliterates Crazzy Steve with a Swanton Bomb from a ladder and through a table! The whole Hardy clan, including King Maxel, rejoice in their victory!
From one title match to another, it is time for our big Knockouts title match!
Christy Hemme acts as the ring announcer for this contest and introduces now inducted TNA Hall of Famer, Gail Kim makes her entrance first, leaving behind her Ninja Kim attire for a new white graceful one.
Maria is out next with Allie by her side. The champion tries to get out of the match, again, claiming that she is still not medically cleared to wrestle. Allie corrects her mentor and says she is indeed able to compete, providing documents as proof.
Despite the confusion that match gets underway, starting with a chase around the six sided ring until the competitors find their way inside it.
Once inside, Maria begins her work on Gail, tossing her head from one turnbuckle corner to another. The First Lady of Professional Wrestling follows up with a mix of clotheslines, kicks and a spine buster leading to a two count pin.
In the middle of the match, Mike Bennett comes out and tries to assist his wife by tossing in Maria’s hand brace to use as a weapon. Maria strikes Gail in the head with it and gets a near three count.
With Gail back up in her feet, she takes control of the match by taking Maria down with a running forearm, ring post Figure Four and topping it all of with a two middle fingers to Maria before hitting the Eat Defeat for the three count. Big surprise, Gail wins the gold for a record setting six times!
After the match, the Bennetts air their grief on how unpleasant their night has been so far, with each of them losing their matches. Mike says he is going to shut the rest of the show down. Is there who can save us? Cue in a debuting Cody and Knockout in training Brandi Rhodes! Well, at least TNA gave the pair a cool theme song! How about changing up some of the Knockouts ones while you’re at it TNA!
The Rhodes confront the Bennetts in the ring, with Maria throwing the first dagger of words by telling Cody to that this was her company and to “go back to WWE”. Brandi steps in and hits a knee shot to Maria after Maria slaps her across the face. The Rhodes clear the ring of TNA’s power couple and make their TNA debut in a high mark.
Thoughts So TNA manages to pull out another miracle this year, this probably by the biggest one with reports of how everything appearing as though the final nail on the coffin for the company had finally hit. Thankfully TNA, continues, to pull through.
The biggest highlight of the night, for me, was Gail Kim’s TNA Hall of Fame speech. Yes, we can poke fun that TNA even has such a thing (I’m guilty of such jokes) but hearing Gail’s speech in her moment was a reminder of how important and appreciative she is to TNA and business alike. TNA has given her the platform to showcase her talent and in a perfect world, Gail’s TNA Hall of Fame ceremony would micmic that of the WWE’s but despite the magnitude difference, Gail was grateful and appreciated for all her hard work and that is what truly counts. Props for all the former Knockouts who made surprise appearances to honor Gail!
Sadly the Knockouts title match didn’t live up to what it was suppose to despite how long these two have feuded since the start of the year. It was forgettable, which is disappointing for an actual live show from TNA.
We all knew Gail would come out on top but given the anticipation to see Gail finally get her hands on Maria, it was a bit of a let down to see the lack of aggression and physicality. Maybe if the match was under some kind of stipulation of some sort, we would’ve saw more of that fire. I would have liked to see these two battle it out without the title on the line, so at the very least, new Knockout names like Jade, Sienna and Allie could have been on the card instead of competing in a dark match or being a non-factor at ringside. Throw them in a triple threat match so that they can at least say they were given their rematch title clause, which has yet to be addressed.
Speaking of Allie, I am surprised she didn’t fully turn on Maria yet! I’m not sure what TNA are waiting for, now that Maria seems to be heading in a new feud with Brandi. As I mentioned on last week’s Impact Write-Up, one scenario that can be played off is Allie growing weary of being Maria’s doormat in favor of newbie Laurel Van Ness.
With what little we’ve seen from Brandi and Maria so far, I do hope that, should this feud from the Bennetts and Rhodes is to continue, the men carry most of the in-ring matches while the women provide the promos and occasional ringside cat fights.
Though they were hardly used, I am glad to have seen Rosemary and Reby be a part of The Great War, as they played a part in the ongoing feud between their respective teams continued.
So TNA manages to stay afloat until the rest of 2016. The only question is where do we go from here? Gail is Knockouts champion but has no contenders to match up to her? Should she turn Heel after such an emotional night? Will a new name rise up to challenge her? As always, time will tell!
What was your favorite part of Bound for Glory? Are you excited for the Rhodes/Bennetts feud? What do you think will happen next in TNA? Let us know in the comments below!
