On Saturday night, TNA Wrestling held its traditionally biggest show of the year, Bound for Glory, and for the first time since I started doing this column, TNA Wrestling produced what I consider last week's match of the week. It was a successful night overall for the company with over 3,000 fans in Detroit, more than doubling AEW's crowd on the same night for Collision, and several very good matches that made my personal Top 10.
Going in, the match that looked to steal the show on paper was one between two of the top non-AEW, WWE or New Japan wrestlers in the world with Mike Bailey facing El Hijo Del Vikingo for Bailey's X Division title. That match did not disappoint. There are some years that it would have won match of the year but with so many great ones in 2024, this won't be one of those years. That doesn't change the fact it was a spectacular display of what both men do best.
Hard striking, high flying, rope walking, using your body as the ultimate weapon... this match had it all. The highlights were Vikingo doing a Canadian Destroyer from the top rope onto the apron as well as earlier doing a ropewalk into a corkscrew plancha. Bailey finished it off with something resembling a Spanish Fly from the top rope to retain his belt and the two men embraced afterward.
That match kicked off the show and left a hard act to follow but the rest of the show was great as well. I had five matches ranked at 4* or better which would put it amongst the best PPV/PLEs from any company this year. There was a women's match I may have rated low compared to the Cagematch rating. My personal star ratings are somewhat affected by the crowd reactions and while this crowd was with them every step of the way, it was a smaller one and there's only so much noise they can make. The same match in front of a big arena crowd in WWE or AEW may have been the best women's match of the year.
I watched a total of 82 matches this week, which ended October 27. Some of the matches were from airings of shows that took place prior to the October 21-27 time period this covers and that will be indicated as such. This includes the following shows: AEW Battle of the Belts (aired Oct 19), WWE RAW, NJPW Royal Quest (aired Oct 20), NJPW Tag League Night 1, TNA Impact, ROH on Honor Club, WWE Smackdown, NXT Lvl Up (aired Oct 18, taped Oct 15), AEW Rampage, WWE Main Event (aired Oct 18, taped Oct 14), AEW Dynamite, NJPW Tag League Night 2, NXT Halloween Havoc and TNA Bound for Glory.
The top 10 matches of the week are listed below along with a couple of honorable mentions. My star rating is the first one and the Cagematch rating and Dave Meltzer star rating, where available, are included at the end.
1. 4.75* Mike Bailey retained his X Division title over El Hijo Del Vikingo at TNA Bound For Glory October 26. 8.35/10 on Cagematch
2. 4.75* The Hardys won the TNA Tag team titles over ABC and former champions Eddie Edwards and Brian Meyers in a Full Metal Mayhem match at Bound for Glory. 5.99/10 on Cagematch
3. 4.25* Masha Slamovich won the TNA Knockouts championship from Jordynne Grace at Bound for Glory. 8.83/10 on Cagematch.
4. 4.25* Chris Jericho won the ROH World title from Mark Briscoe in a Ladder Wars match at AEW Dynamite October 23. 6.20/10 on Cagematch.
5. 4.25* Zack Sabre Jr retained his IWGP World championship over SANADA at NJPW Royal Quest IV October 20. 7.24/10 on Cagematch.
6. 4* Giulia and Stephanie Vacquer beat Cora Jade and Roxanne Perez at NXT Halloween Havoc October 27. 8.05/10 on Cagematch.
7. 4* Kazuchika Okada retained his AEW Continental championship over Kyle O'Reilly at Battle of the Belts October 19. 7.4/10 on Cagematch. 4* from Dave Meltzer
8. 4* Clark Connors and Drilla Moloney beat SHO and Yoshinobu Kanemaru at New Japan Tag League Night 1 October 24. 5.29/10 on Cagematch.
9. 4* Mike Santana beat Moose at TNA Bound for Glory. 7.11/10 on Cagematch.
10. 4* Shota Umino beat Callum Newman at NJPW Royal Quest IV. 5.83/10 on Cagematch.
I also rated the following two matches at 4*:
Josh Alexander over Steve Maclin at Bound for Glory. 6.99/10 on Cagematch.
Robbie Eagles and Kosei Fujita over Dragon Dia and Ryusuke Taguchi at New Japan Tag League Night 1. 6.69/10 on Cagematch.
