Were on the Road to Bound For Glory which of course means that fans are eagerly waiting to see the type of matches TNA will produce this year for their October extravaganza; Sure you can probably suspect that will have another Call Your Shot Gauntlet Match at this year’s event, but you can also expect some incredible first time ever bouts or match of year quality contests…unless the match itself gets cancelled or postponed.
While it tends to be a rarity in TNA, history has shown that matches that were planned at Bound For Glory ends up falling through for one reason or another as you will see on this list.
Side note: I am only including matches that came close to airing on the PPV and I won’t be mentioning proposed matches that never got off the ground so no Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto El Patrón in 2017, no Josh Alexander vs. Kenny Omega in 2021 and no Jeff Jarrett vs. Hulk Hogan in 2003.
#5. MK Ultra vs. Tasha Steelz and Deonna Purrazzo (Bound For Glory 2023)
Unlike the other entries on this list, this match did indeed happen but not on the official PPV itself which is why I mentioning it here.
In the lead up to Bound For Glory 2023, former Knockouts Champions: Tasha Steelz and Deonna Purrazzo were watching each others backs during their singles matches with Masha Slamovich and Killer Kelly aka MK Ultra who also happen to be the then Knockouts Tag Team Champions.
This saw all four ladies compete in a tag team match with the belts on the line and the match was set to take place at Bound For Glory, except it didn’t happen on the actual event…See the company decided to put the match on their YouTube page as an exclusive meaning the bout did take place but not on the original broadcast of the PPV.
The match itself only lasted around six minutes with MK Ultra picking up the win and retaining their tag titles.
#4. Eli Drake vs. Joey Janela (Bound For Glory 2018)
Long before he was one of WWE’s popular stars on the main roster, the man who became LA Knight was known to audiences as Eli Drake during his time in TNA/IMPACT in the mid to late 2010’s.
While Drake’s time in the company could best be described as moderately successful, it did have a few questionable moments like this one from Bound For Glory 2018; The former world champion had issued an open challenge to anyone to face him only for that person to being one time WWE jobber, James Ellsworth and to say the fans in attendance weren’t happy with it would be putting it lightly.
Some fans had expected former WCW and WWE superstar, Chris Jericho to be the one to accept, but that was shot down when Y2J announced on Twitter he wasn’t even in the building. In fact, the original idea was to see future AEW star, Joey Janela come and fight Eli at Bound For Glory however an injury he sustained ahead of time saw those plans scrapped and thus Ellsworth was thrown in at the last minute.
#3. Taya Valkyrie vs. Rosemary: Red Wedding Match (Bound For Glory 2017)
Before they were longtime friends in TNA, Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie were bitter enemies since the latter’s arrival in 2017 and after numerous accounts of Taya getting the better of the former Knockouts Champion.
Originally both ladies were set to take on each other at Bound For Glory 2017 in a “Red Wedding” match…Not sure what that is but it probably was going to be a match where weapons are legal and then something about Game of Thrones, I guess.
Sadly will never know what this match would have been like as Valkyrie was unable to travel due to visa issues and thus the match delayed until things could be sorted out. The match would end up happening in early 2018 with Rosemary defeating Taya in a “Demon’s Dance match” thus ending the rivalry.
#2. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Kylie Rae (Bound For Glory 2020)
Three years before her match at BFG was relegated to being a YouTube exclusive, Deonna Purrazzo was set to compete in the semi main event of Bound For Glory 2020 where she would be defending her Knockouts Championship against Kylie Rae.
Unfortunately this match didn’t happen as Rae no showed the event due to mental health concerns and she was never brought up on commentary or seen in the company ever again after this.
In order to salvage this situation, former Knockouts Champion Su Yung made her return to the promotion and put on an incredible showing with “The Virtuosa” culminating in Su picking up the win and becoming a two time Knockouts Champion.
#1. Jeff Jarrett vs. Kevin Nash (Bound For Glory 2005)
We end today’s list by talking about not only a match that nearly took place, but also the original main event for the inaugural Bound For Glory PPV.
Following his return to the company after TNA made the jump to SPIKE TV, Kevin Nash called out then NWA World Champion, Jeff Jarrett for a match at Bound For Glory and sure enough the match was set to take place with UFC superstar, Tito Ortiz being the special guest referee.
However during the preshow for BFG ’05 it was announced that Nash was unable to compete due to a medical emergency and thus a new match had to be made to close out the show…the solution: Have a ten man gauntlet match on the show to crown a new number one contender only to then have the world title match occur immediately afterwards.
In the end, former ECW and WWE superstar, Rhino won the gauntlet and soon took on Jarrett for the belt resulting in “The War Machine” beating Double J in around five minutes to become the new NWA World Champion.
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