KELLER'S TNA BOUND FOR GLORY PPV REPORT - HOUR THREE
OCTOBER 18, 2009
LIVE FROM IRVINE, CALIF.

-Borash interviewed Angle, who said he never underestimates anyone. He said he had Styles beat three days ago. He said the next time he faces him, it'll be for the TNA Title without any time limits, but first he has to get through Matt Morgan. He said he sees him as a disrespectful punk who has crossed the Godfather. He said he warned him what would happen.

8 -- KURT ANGLE vs. MATT MORGAN

There was a battle of chants, with alternating "Let's Go Morgan" and "Let's Go Angle" chants. After some back and forth action, Angle controlled offense for a minute. Morgan made a comeback, but by 4:00 Angle had control again and was working over Morgan's legs. He applied a figure-four leglock. At 10:00, Morgan hit a Carbon Footprint for a near fall. Angle came back a minute later with an anklelock. Morgan powered out quickly and then set up Angle for a powerbomb. Angle rolled through into an anklelock. Morgan tried to kick out, but Angle reasserted his grip. Morgan tried again and succeeded. He got up and sold a leg injury. Morgan avoided an Angle charge in the corner and then hit a Hellivator for a believable near fall that popped the crowd at 10:00. Morgan set up a Tombstone, but Angle rolled through into an anklelock attempt. Morgan kicked out, but Angle reasserted his grip. Morgan teased tapping, but gave one last attempt to break out and succeeded. Morgan followed with a hard clothesline for a two count. He said aloud, "Seriously? What else do I have to do?" A chant of "Morgan sucks" broke out. Taz said he disagreed. Tenay said there have been dueling chants all match. When Morgan climbed to the top rope, Angle got up and tossed him to the mat. Taz touted Angle's cardio, saying he's working as if the match just started. Angle hit a frog splash for a believable near fall at 14:00. "We're witnessing Matt Morgan grow up," said Taz. "Matt Morgan is evolving into a star in this match." Morgan lifted Angle off the ropes onto his shoulders, but Angle turned it into a victory roll for the win. Angle lifted Morgan's arm afterward. Taz said Morgan earned Angle's respect in there. Taz said it was a hell of a match.

WINNER: Angle in 15:00.

STAR RATING: ***3/4 -- Very good match. A few more minutes and I'd have had considered a four star ranking. The match did not overstay its welcome by any means. It did feel like a career-elevating marker for Morgan, who kept up with Angle. He should have won over the crowd, but it seemed the crowd warmed up to Angle the longer the match meant, perhaps realizing Angle was putting in a great performance by elevating Morgan.

-Taz and Tenay touted how good Bound for Glory has been so far.

9 -- A.J. STYLES vs. STING -- TNA World Hvt. Title match

Styles wore trunks with a strange-looking color scheme of powder blue and pink on white, which was part of the beast cancer awareness campaign. Sting armdragged Styles early. Styles winced. Taz said Sting sees a lot of himself in Sting, and he compared this to the Clash of the Champions match between Sting and Flair, which put Sting on the wrestling map. The problem with that analogy is that Styles is the only TNA Grand Slam champion, so he's hardly in need of a strong performance against Sting to move into being perceived as this breakout new main event star. Sting could give that to Hernandez, Matt Morgan, Brutus Magnus, or someone else along those lines, but it doesn't apply to Styles. They continued to feel each other out. Styles took Sting down and kicked his back, then dropped a knee and scored a two count. Like Morgan before him, this pro-veteran crowd booed Styles. Styles regrouped at ringside at 4:00. Sting held the ropes open for Styles to re-enter. Taz said he'd have taken a shot at Sting at that point. Tenay said that's the difference between he and Sting.

The crowd booed Styles's next pin attempt. Styles went on sustained offense at 6:00. Back at ringside at 7:00, Styles side-stepped Sting who flew into the ringside barrier. Sting came back to score a near fall at 9:00, but then Styles took control again for a while including hitting a nice looking springboard forearm. At 11:00 Taz wondered who'd run out of gas first. Sting went for the Scorpion Deathdrop, but Styles blocked it and attempted his own, but Sting blocked it too. The crowd began a chant of "This is wrestling!" Sting hit a Stinger Splash in the corner and then hit the Scorpion Deathdrop for a two count. Sting attempted a Scorpion Deathlock submission hold. Styles screamed in pain and teased a tapout, but then he decided to power out instead. he shot Sting off of the hold like he was shot out of a cannon. Styles got up and threw chops. Sting no-sold the chops and pounded his chest. He then took Styles down with a clothesline. As they fought on the top rope, Styles headbutted out of Sting's grip. Taz said Styles was favoring an ankle. He surprised Sting with a Pele kick, then he finished Sting with a Pele kick for the win.

WINNER: Styles in 15:00 to retain the TNA World Title.

STAR RATING: *** -- The time-management on this may have been off and they might have had to rush this finish as that came out of nowhere and seemed a bit of a letdown or anti-climactic. That said, by doing that finish in this situation which did "come out of nowhere," it invests in future matches as near falls will mean more even before the wrestler's particular signature finisher is hit. A nice match, but it ultimately didn't feel epic and didn't give this show that "can't miss main event" ending it needed to generate the buzz TNA probably wanted.

-Styles called Sting back to the ring. The mic sound broke up a bit and gave him feedback. He tried a second mic and that didn't work. Styles got frustrated, and then finally he got a mic to work. He said he's been entertaining fans for 23 years and he's in his homestate. He said this ring is his spotlight. Sting returned to the ring and addressed the crowd, which began chanting, "You still got it!" at him. He said since he has the platform, he should cover what a lot of people have been asking him, which is whether he's just wrestled his final match. The crowd chanted, "One more year! One more year!" He seemed genuinely touched by that chant. He referenced Brett Favre and said he's not sure what he's going to do. He said some of the comments fans made at the FanFest over the weekend made him "want to stay forever." Nice finishing speech that seemed genuine. There was a real sense that this California crowd felt a bond with some of the TNA talent on this show, although they also seemed - at least in part - to be into seeing some of the big names in their 40s "one more time."

QUOTEBOOK

Sting: "If I was going to lose, I'm glad I could lose to someone like A.J. Styles. And if I'm going to lose, I'm real glad to lose at home."

Sting: "I'm not pulling a Brett Favre on you, I promise, but I was not prepared to make some kind of announcement tonight. All I can say is - and this is not some kind of a kayfabe kind of a teaser - I don't know if I'm going to come back."

REAX WANTED: If you saw this event, send us your name, a 0-10 score, picks for best and worst matches, and a brief paragraph of thoughts on the show: pwtorch@gmail.com.

[A.J. Styles photo credit Wade Keller (c) PWTorch]

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