Is Bound For Glory Finally back on top?
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For a good number of years now Impact have been running 2-4 Pay Per Views a year. This is a system that on paper seems a little strange but with the added editions of their Impact Plus events it really works and makes the Pay Per Views feel like a big deal.
When it comes to feeling like a big deal however 2 Pay Per Views have always felt like they’ve had that little bit extra to them, those 2 events being Slammiversary and Bound For Glory. Even when you look back to the early days of the company these 2 events were always the 2 that were built up the most throughout the year and made to feel the most special out of any event that they ran.
No matter how many events that you put up as “the big events” though, when Impact have 2 events they they like to call their big marquee PPV’s you will always have 1 that is shall we say the leader and then the second in command. Bound For Glory was always treated as the big yearly event and Slammiversary was always the secondary big event (even though it’s there anniversary event), however whether Impact’s mindset has changed or not, over time things have slowly swung in the opposite direction (it feels like anyway).
Over the past few years we have seen Slammiversary year after year (in my opinion) out perform Bound For Glory. Both events have always had decent builds however after Slammiversary in the past 3-4 years you really feel like you’ve gotten your monies worth and there has been a lot set up to go forward for the next chapter of Impact’s story in the year. However Bound for Glory always seems to have some kind of issue or maybe matches that feel like they were built up then sadly under delivered (more like regular Impact TV matches). The longer this went on the more Slammiversary looked better than BFG?
Slammiversary even before last year (for me) became Impacts big Pay Per View event and was taking the top slot year after year. When you then add in the extra bonus that was brought in last year with the surprises that may debut thanks to the WWE releases (which then continued into this years Slammiversary) as well as the Forbidden Door, then you have a lot to grip yourself when it comes to Slammiversary. With the continued success for many years you always had high hopes for Bound For Glory (maybe it was that we set expectations too high that the fault is actually on us), however as good as the build to Bound For Glory was it never felt as big as what we saw from Slammiversay. Then when the event year after year would be decent but not what Impact still like to call their “Annual big event” you often feel like it’s still missing something.
This year however has been a pretty busy year for Impact with so much talent coming into the company as well as a lot of talent temporally coming in from other companies through the Forbidden Door. Impact has a lot of momentum behind them right now and as we get closer to Bound For Glory, it really feels like this year has the same feeling as when we approached Slammiversary earlier this year. Those sensations being that we really are in a position where anyone could turn up from multiple promotions and when you add in the free agents that are out there it gives a real mystique to the event, plus the build to this years event feels more like they have a direction, where as in the past it has felt a little messy and last minute at times.
With a lot of these factors coming into play going into this years Bound For Glory, such as many matches being set up well in advance (even planting seeds before Slammiversary). The card is stacking up very nicely and it’s already looking like it could be one hell of a show with any amount of surprises turning up being an extra bonus (not the main attraction). This now begs the question, have Impact Wrestling managed to put what they call their marquee event back on top finally? Obviously the execution of the event will be a huge factor as they have very often sadly messed the execution up, which is often the detriment of what places Bound For Glory second to me (take Ellsworth being the surprise for Eli Drake in 2018). This year really does feel different though and with all the momentum Impact has behind it, this could be the event to place Bound For Glory back at the top of the card as Impact’s true marquee event again.
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So far, the only thing “damaging” Bound For Glory is the unfortunate injury sustained by Sami Callihan, could have seen either a massive Hardcore Tornado Tag style match with Eddie Edwards vs W.Morrissey & Moose or (maybe a bit less exciting) The Gatekeepers vs The Good Brothers for the Tag Team Titles.
Deonna Purrazzo vs Mickie James could make or break the pay per view given how much build this has gotten since Slammiversary & the potential of Josh Alexander shutting the Forbidden Door on Christian Cage’s face is going to be one of the most talked about matches for years to come.
The last time Bound For Glory really stood out as the superior was 2016 with Decay vs the Broken Hardys, Moose vs Bobby Lashley. Been a long time coming, but Bound For Glory is set to beat Slammiversary or equal it at best, once again.