For almost twenty years, TNA Wrestling has given wrestling fans some the greatest matches and moments at their annual October event: Bound For Glory with this event being the second oldest in company history next to Slammiversary.
A few months ago I did an article on the 20 Things You Didn’t Know About Slammiversary; Well now I’m back, but this time will going over those little factoids about Bound For Glory that you may or may not know about…
#20. Jarrett vs. Hogan: Bound For Glory 2003?
In late 2003, Hulk Hogan wrestled in New Japan Pro Wrestling for the first time in 10 years which in of itself was a major deal, but it’s the events that occurred after a match the Hulkster had that would garner some headlines.
While addressing the Japanese media during a post-match press conference, Hulk Hogan mentions how his got unfinished business both in Japan and the United States and how his never won the IWGP Championship or the NWA Championship, this led to an unexpected appearance by then NWA champion and founder of TNA Wrestling, Jeff Jarrett bursting right through the door and nailing the Hulkster on the top of his head with his signature guitar.
Double J goes on to pummel Hogan with his fists and a steel chair while also throwing around few people who are trying to stop him; Eventually the action is broken up, leaving a very bloodied and battered Hulk Hogan laid out in agony whilst the media documents every minute of it.
In recent videos with Conrad Thompson on Double J’s podcast show ‘My World’, Jarrett has explained that the endgame for this whole angle at the press conference was to lead up to Jeff Jarrett and Hulk Hogan having a match at what would be the very first Bound For Glory event, just a year or two before the inaugural show in 2005.
However, those plans fell through and the company had to drop the whole thing in the weeks that followed, however the moment itself is seen by many fans as one of the best moments in the early years of TNA.
#19. Rhino’s Only World Title Win in TNA
After his shocking debut following the main event of No Surrender 2005, Rhino came off looking like a world beater and soon embarked on being a force of dominance in the IMPACT Zone after his time in the WWE failed to produce anything that rivaled his run in the final years of ECW.
By the time the first ever Bound For Glory took place, ‘The War Machine’ was pulling triple duty; After winning the first ever Monster’s Ball in BFG history, Rhino and a number of other wrestlers (some of whom wrestled earlier in the night) took part in a 10 man gauntlet to crown the number one contender for Jarrett’s NWA World title.
Rhino won and was quickly jumped by Double J who decided to have that title match right now with Tito Ortiz as the special guest referee. Jarrett would come up short losing the belt in around five and a half minutes leading to Rhino becoming the NWA World Champion.
This reign wouldn’t last long as Jarrett won the belt back just two days later with the episode of Rhino losing the belt airing a few weeks later…Rhino wouldn’t taste championship gold again until he won the Tag Team Titles in 2022 as part of Violent By Design and later as a tag team with Heath.
#18. 2006: Big Business for TNA
Not long after the company aired it’s Rebellion pay-per-view in 2021, the numbers for the event were reportedly made clear by Dave Meltzer with the show doing an estimated buy rate number of 9,300 with the main event seeing Rich Swann vs, Kenny Omega for the IMPACT and AEW World Championships.
While those numbers were touted as a win for the company in terms of fan investment and buy rates, TNA in late 2006 was on cloud nine when it came to PPV numbers. the 2006 edition of Bound For Glory drew in 55,000 pay per view buys which is more than 20-25,000 more than what the previous year’s event did and roughly six times as more than what Rebellion 2021 accomplished.
This number would soon be surpassed a month later when the Genesis pay per view which saw Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe in what was built up as ‘The Dream Match of the Decade’ drew in an outrageous 60,000 buys which still holds the record for the biggest buy rate numbers in company history until that number was rivaled in 2024 following the success of that year’s Hard To Kill PPV with the major theme around that show being the first TNA PPV in almost a decade.
#17. Gail Kim Makes History
One of the most memorable matches and moments to occur at the 2007 Bound For Glory event would have to be the Gauntlet for the Gold to crown the first ever TNA Knockouts Champion which as we all know was famously won by Gail Kim.
While Gail’s victory on this night was hugely important not just in her career and in the overall idea of a women’s division in the company, but Gail’s victory made her the first female to have won the WWE Women’s Championship and the TNA Knockouts Championship in her illustrious career.
Gail’s win of the WWE’s Women’s Title occurred on the June 30th 2003 edition of RAW where the TNA Hall of Famer won a battle royal to win the title as well as her first and only gold in the WWE.
Outside of Gail, only three other women have been able to accomplish such a feat and these ladies are: Victoria aka Tara, Mickie James and Naomi aka Trinity.
#16. BFG ’08 Set a Pay-Per-View Attendance Record
2008 is often seen as one of the best years in company history from an in-ring perspective, but business was also good too if the final numbers of that year’s Bound For Glory is any indication; Drawing in a whopping 5,000-5,500 people into the Sears Centre which is an arena that was set up to hold up to 8,000 fans.
For comparison, the previous years BFG drew in around 4,000 people in attendance while the ’06 and ’05 versions drew in 3,600 and 900 people respectively, meaning that Bound For Glory 2008 had more people watching the show in the Sears Centre than the first two events combined.
In fact to give you an idea of how troubling things were for TNA in mid to late 2010’s if you added the attendance numbers of Bound For Glory’s 2014, ’15, ’16 and ’17 you’d have just the amount of figures that BFG 2008 did in one night…Needless to say Bound For Glory 2008 was indeed ‘Showtime’ for TNA Wrestling.
#15. Sting: Bound For Glory’s Main Event Icon
Considering the last four Bound For Glory’s have ended with the final match seeing a new world champion being crowned and three of those times seeing Sting as the victor, some fans probably were expecting the Stinger to make it 4-0 come BFG 2009.
That expectation was dashed when AJ Styles defeated Sting, thus becoming the first person to retain the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event. While he didn’t win the gold on this night, ‘The Icon’ Sting further made history has he not only became the first person to win the world title in three straight BFG’s but he also holds the record for the amount of times he main evented the show.
From 2006-2013 Sting competed in a total of eight Bound For Glory’s with singles and tag team matches spread throughout, but in his first four appearances at BFG, Sting main evented the pay-per-view in a record that no one has been able to break unless the company decides to have Josh Alexander main event Bound For Glory 2024 which would make Josh the second person since 2009 to achieve such an accolade.
Bonus fact, Outside of AJ Styles there have been six other men who have been able to retain the world title at Bound For Glory: Kurt Angle, Bobby Lashley, Eli Drake, Brian Cage, Josh Alexander and Alex Shelley…But it’s the Phenomenal One who got there first.
#14. Jay Lethal: The X Division Champion Who Kept the Gold Twice
Jay Lethal’s 2010 was something special he engaged in a feud with Ric Flair which gave us incredible moments of Lethal impersonating the Nature Boy and of course the famous ‘Woo Off’ between the two men on an episode of IMPACT! and he also wrestled the likes of Kazarian, AJ Styles and Douglas Williams with the latter allowing Lethal to become a four time X Division Champion.
At that year’s Bound For Glory, the rematch between Lethal and Williams took place with the former Black Machismo emerging victorious after going the distance with the British wrestler for a little over 8 minutes.
What most fans don’t know or remember is that Jay Lethal currently stands as the only person in the history of Bound For Glory to have retained the X Division Championship on two different occasions with the first time seeing Lethal (under his Machismo gimmick) keeping the gold after a match with ‘The Fallen Angel’ Christopher Daniels at BFG 2007.
#13. The Last Stand of Narrave
Technology is ever evolving with many of the devices we grew up using soon becoming antiquated; Case in point, back when you still needed to watch a wrestling show by DVD or VCR all the major companies had a distribution deal and TNA was no different, unfortunately this wouldn’t last as the company’s DVD distributor, Navarre was shutting down by the end of 2011 due to the changing retail environment and Navarre facing bankruptcy.
This led to Narrave selling all remaining DVD’s before permantly shutting it’s doors with Bound For Glory being the last TNA PPV to be released before their disturbution partner folded.
Since then, all TNA Wrestling DVD’s like all of their merchandise have been released through their website via Shop TNA.
#12. The First TNA Hall Of Fame Event Took Place One Night Before BFG
At Slammiversary 2012, TNA President Dixie Carter announced the creation of the TNA Wrestling Hall of Fame with Sting as the very first inductee.
While the announcement was made at Slammiversary, the actual hall of fame cermony wouldn’t take place until the night before Bound For Glory with BFG still being seen as the company’s equivalent to WWE’s WrestleMania.
By all accounts the ceremony was a major success with a special guest appearance from WCW superstar, Lex Luger who had a few kind words to say about his friend along with Dixie Carter who gave ‘The Icon’ a very expensive watch as a token of her appreciation for all that his done for the company.
#11. Candice LeRae and Veda Scott had a Secret Match Hours Before the PPV
The Knockouts Division is widely regarded as one the best things about TNA since it’s inception back in 2007 with names like Gail Kim, Awesome Kong, The Beautiful People, Taryn Terrell and others being given the opportunity to succeed whereas other promotions like the WWE wouldn’t allow that to happen.
Hours before the BFG 2013 event was set to take place or even before the pre-show began, reports surfaced that two female wrestlers competed in a match that occurred exclusively in front of a few agents for the company, so who were the wrestlers involved in this untelevised match? That would be…Veda Scott and Candice LeRae.
Scott, who is best known for her work in Ring of Honor and providing commentary for shows like IMPACT’s 2021 Knockouts Knockdown event wrestled LeRae who was a few years away from competing on the black and gold version of NXT and was working with Pro Wrestling Guerilla at the time.
It’s unknown how the match turned out or how long it went, but apparently LeRae must have done well as no less than 31 days after this, she would be put into a match with then Knockouts Champion, Gail Kim at Turning Point with LaRae coming up short.
#10. Sanada: Bound For Glory’s Youngest Main Eventer
Before finding success in New Japan Pro Wrestling and eventually joining the Bullet Club, the two biggest accolades in the career of Japanese wrestler, Seiya Sanada saw him beating Austin Aries to become the new TNA X Division Champion in 2013 and then main eventing Bound For Glory a year later.
At just 26 years old, Sanada became the youngest man in the company’s history to ever main event Bound For Glory even if the match in question wasn’t all that great…Which is ironic considering two of the wrestlers involved had the word ‘Great’ in their name.
So far this achievement has yet to be broken with the second youngest BFG main eventer being none other Rich Swann, who was 29 years old when he defeated Eric Young for the Impact World Championship in the main event of Bound For Glory 2020.
#9. The Hardy Bros Both have Won the World Title at BFG
It was pretty obvious to everyone that Matt Hardy was walking out this match with the world title considering the bout took place in his home state and his brother was the referee so of course he was going to win…Let’s just forget the convoluted reason for how Matt lost the belt just days later.
Matt’s victory was one of the biggest highlights of his entire singles career until a year later where he became completely broken and entertained/infuriated the wrestling world with his broken brilliance.
What makes this win especially interesting is the fact that this means that Matt and Jeff Hardy can claim that they were the only real life brothers to have not only fought for the world title in a triple threat match at Bound For Glory, but also coming out on top as the new champion…Quite impressive.
#8. Ethan Carter’s Post Show Speech
The main event between EC3 and Bobby Lashley for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship was a fantastic way to cap off BFG 2016 and has gone down as a great match in the careers of both men.
While EC3 didn’t walk away with the title, however he did leave the building as a hero in the eyes of the fans following an impassioned speech he gave after the camera stopped rolling.
In the speech, Ethan Carter would sit on a steel chair and congratulate Bobby Lashley on his win before going on to say the following:
Suddenly a TNA chant starts to ring out throughout the building and EC3 continues on to encourage the crowd whilst also telling the fans to “F the noise” (presumably the wrestling media at the time), “F the haters, F everybody” which makes the crowd roar even louder with thunderous applause.
This all came at a time when the future of the company was bleak and perhaps as a final good memory before the end, EC3 gave arguably one of the best promos of his life…Of course as we all know the company is still around today but that didn’t mean the problems that had circling the promotion for years had gone away especially by 2017.
#7. The Least Attended BFG of All Time
According to the Wrestling Observer, the attendance figures for TNA’s 2017 Bound For Glory were about 650 people…which is ridiculously low for an event that the company has referred to over the years as it’s version of WrestleMania.
To give you an idea of how bad this attendance number is, the previous year’s event, Bound For Glory 2016 had 1,100 people and that was the event that some predicted would be the last pay per view in company history.
In fact, the lowest attended Bound For Glory before 2017 was the very first BFG event back in 2005 where the show reportedly had around 900 people in the IMPACT Zone, meaning BFG 2005 would hold the record for the lowest attendance for a Bound For Glory pay per view for the next 12 years.
Allegations of fans being paid to attend the show and the rest of the tapings in Canada certainly don’t help this show’s reputation either, but the bottom line is that this show is the encapsulation of all the problems that plagued the company for years all wrapped up into one pay per view, fortunately the next Bound For Glory would be a whole lot better…Although controversy was still not that far away.
#6. The Story Behind The Aries Fiasco
While Bound For Glory 2018 is certainly remembered as a good show inside a less than stellar arena, it’s perhaps best remembered for the finish between Johnny Impact and Austin Aries in the main event for the IMPACT World Championship.
Now, I won’t describe what happened as I’m sure many of you already have seen or heard about it, however I will talk a little bit about the story surrounding the finish.
According to Austin Aries in a 2019 interview with Chris Van Vliet, the finish and sequence that came after the bell rang was indeed planned as Aries decided to play off the idea of people thinking his a prick and unprofessional while at the same time create a moment that people will be talking about for years to come and get more attention on IMPACT, in other words Aries was trying to work the marks who probably still believe the whole animosity leading into the match was real.
While plans to bring back Aries for a rematch was there, nothing really came of it with the contract negotiations being the main reason…Since then Aries has become an afterthought in modern day pro wrestling with his only remaining legacy being his 301 day title reign as TNA X Division Champion.
#5. BFG 2019’s Domestic Success
BFG 2019 showed just how much business was starting to pick up for the company as they not only sold out the Odeum Center something the company announce during a media day event just days before the PPV, but according to IMPACT’ Wrestling’s own George the Iceman, the company sold over 3,000 tickets with extra rows being added due to the increase of people in attendance.
This means that Bound For Glory 2019 was arguably the second biggest paying crowd (from a domestic standpoint) in nearly five years, the first would arguably be Slammiversary 2018 which sold out the Rebel Entertainment Complex which can fill up a capacity of 3,700 people.
All the Bound For Glorys from 2005-09 garnered between 900-5,000 people while Bound For Glory’s from 2010-18 only attracted 1,100-3,000 people with Bound For Glory 2013 getting only 3,000 people.
BFG 2019 was able to sell out and got more fans in attendance than BFG 2018 and even 2019’s Slammiversary which is really a nice increase in sales and overall not a bad night for the company.
#4. The North: Tag Team Champions Two Years in a Row
Ethan Page and Josh Alexander aka The North were one of the most dominant tag teams in the late 2010’s with their smash mouthed, no nonsense style of action and brilliant understanding of tag wrestling made them a team to look out for.
At Bound For Glory 2020 (Yup, the Pandemic BFG), The North took part in a four way tag match for the titles when the Canadians jumped on the Motor City Machine Guns before the match could officially begin with Alexander dropping Alex Shelley on his head, leaving Chris Sabin to have to go at it alone and defend the tag titles.
In the end, The North would pin The Good Brothers to become the new IMPACT Tag Team Champions once again for the second time in their careers before dropping the belts to Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows just 21 days later at Turning Point.
What makes this short lived title reign so interesting is the fact that The North became the first ever tag team in BFG history to walk out of the PPV with the tag titles in two consecutive years as Ethan Page and Josh Alexander retained their titles in a three way tag team match back at Bound For Glory 2019.
#3. Christian Cage’s Only Bound For Glory Main Event
The high point of the AEW/IMPACT partnership saw Kenny Omega become the new IMPACT World Champion and things appeared to hint at the possiblity of Kenny Omega defending the title against Josh Alexander in a dream match for the ages…Sadly the match didn’t happen nor was it on the card if Kenny is to be believed.
The story has it that Omega was suffering from injuries he had sustained and rather than just relinquish the titles he was holding, he decided to lose them individually with a match booked for the very first episode of AEW Rampage where the former WWE and TNA wrestler, Christian Cage would beat Omega in the opening contest for the belt.
Following his victory, Cage promised to be a defending champion which he did during his return to IMPACT, where he defended the belt on a few occasions before he was set to defend his world title against Josh Alexander in the main event at Bound For Glory 2021.
This match marked Cage’s first Bound For Glory match since 2008 and it also was the first time he ever main evented BFG in his entire run with the company, better late than never Captain Charisma.
#2. Deonna Purrazzo: Bound For Glory’s Unluckiest Knockout
Since returning to the company back in the Summer of 2020, Deonna Purrazzo had been one of the most celebrated and decorated Knockouts in recent memory…Unfortunately the Virtuosa’s luck hasn’t been so good when it comes to Bound For Glory.
In previous years, Deonna came up short in all of her matches losing to both Su Yung and Mickie James for the Knockouts World Championship at Bound For Glory 2020 and 2021.
BFG 2022 continued this losing streak when she and her best friend, Chelsea Green lost the Knockouts Tag Team Titles to the Death Dollz earning Purrazzo her third straight loss at Bound For Glory…In fact her final appearance at Bound For Glory was originally advertised for the show, but didn’t air.
Instead the match, which saw Purrazzo and Tasha Steelz challenge Killer Kelly and Masha Slamovich aka ‘MK Ultra for the Knockouts Tag Team Titles was aired as an exclusive for the company’s YouTube Channel as part of their short lived Main Event Mondays special…Purrazzo ended up eating the pin in that match, setting her record at zero wins and four losses.
#1. The Only Five Star Match in BFG History
BFG 2023 was an event so nice I had to mention it twice and for good reason…
Although the main event between Alex Shelley and Josh Alexander for the world title was a good match, it can’t be argued what the best match on the card was; Will Ospreay and Mike Bailey put on an instant classic inside the Cicero Stadium with the fans cheering both men from beginning to end.
Evidently Dave Meltzer was a big fan of this match too as he did what most thought was unthinkable and gave this first time ever meeting between Bailey and Ospreay a five star rating marking the first time TNA got such a rating for a match since Unbreakable 2005 with AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe fighting for the X Division Title getting the honors.
Matter of fact, Ospreay is the only person in TNA history to have two five star rated Dave Meltzer matches with his second coming in January of 2024, losing to Josh Alexander with the match getting a 5.5 star rating making it the most highly rated bout in company history.
So what do you think of this list? What fact about TNA’s Bound For Glory do you think deserves to be mentioned? Leave your thoughts down below in the comments section and be sure to follow DiscussPW on our website and all social media accounts where we have discussions and articles on all of your favorite wrestling promotions.
You can follow me on my Twitter/X @FullertonHakeem and I’ll see you all later.