Bound For Glory 2018 Is Impact Wrestling’s Most Stacked Card Yet

Impact Wrestling delivered one of of the most acclaimed wrestling shows of the year this summer with Slammiversary, but Bound For Glory 2018 has an even more loaded card on paper.

The resurgence of Impact Wrestling has been one of professional wrestling’s biggest stories in 2018, and it was wonderful to see how they followed-up an encouraging “Redemption” Pay Per View with a wonderful Slammiversary show. Whether it was Madison Rayne vs. Su Yung or Pentagon Jr. vs. Sami Callihan, Impact brought something different to the table with all of their Slammiversary matches, leading many to feel that Impact is finally back on track.

This Sunday at the Melrose Ballroom in Astoria, New York, Impact’s biggest show of the year, Bound For Glory 2018, will take place. There is no doubt that BFG will be better than last year’s rendition of the PPV, but Impact has set a much higher standard than that under Don Callis and Scott D’Amore. Expectations are high for Bound For Glory, and while topping Slammiversary is a tall task, the BFG card looks even more loaded on paper.

Like, seriously. We’re getting Eddie Edwards vs. Moose, Eli Drake in an “Open Challenge” (I do love me a good open challenge), Johnny Impact vs. Austin Aries for the Impact World Championship, another LAX faction war match, Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie for the Knockouts Championship, and so much more.

I’ve been admittedly critical of Impact’s television episodes in between Slammiversary and Bound For Glory, because Impact could have done a better job of building momentum after their wildly successful showing at Slammiversary. But at the end of the day,  there are fans, especially those who aren’t diehard Impact fans, don’t watch two hours of television every week. They pay attention to the Pay Per Views, and Impact’s primary goal is still to get people to pay attention to the big shows. And there’s no bigger show than Bound For Glory.

What stands out the most to me about the BFG card is the depth. There are eight legitimately compelling matches on this show, with at least three of them having the potential to steal the show from the main event between Impact and Aries. We’ve seen those two get in the ring together before, and we know that they are capable of producing at the highest level as two of the most decorated wrestlers in this company.

To me, though, wrestling promotions that stand out are the ones that are able to build a well-rounded card. That’s exactly what Bound For Glory looks like. I’ll briefly run through the non-world title matches below to show you just how deep this card is.

• LAX’s Concrete Jungle Death Match has “Match of the Year” potential, just based on how electric this rivalry has been and how the OGz and LAX were able to create magic at Slammiversary.
• Tessa vs. Taya could go down in history as one of the best Knockouts Championship matches ever, assuming the goal is to have them produce a long, heart-stopping battle for the title. There’s a chance that this match could be shorter (but still thoroughly entertaining) if the goal is to build towards something longer-term.
• Allie and Su Yung can fight forever as far as I’m concerned.
• Eddie Edwards vs. Moose? The story pretty much writes itself, and it’s a chance for Edwards to keep shining. Meanwhile, Moose kind of feels in Austin Aries’s shadow after joining forces with him, so this is a way for Moose to follow up on his standout performance at Slammiversary by reminding wrestling fans of his talent.
• I have this funny feeling that whoever answers Eli Drake’s “Open Challenge” is going to make me “pop” big-time.
• oVe vs. Rey Fenix, Pentagon Jr., and Brian Cage is going to be INSANE. This, in addition to the LAX match and the Knockouts Title bout, is the match I’m circling as must-see. All six of these men will stop at no lengths to destroy each other, and I honestly feel like the babyface trio are three of the best wrestlers in the world. They could be even bigger parts of Impact going forward, with Cage having so much long-term potential for this promotion.
• Matt Sydal and Ethan Page vs. Rich Swann and Willie Mack should be exciting, and I’m glad Impact is giving us a chance to get more familiar with Mack’s work in the ring.

Slammiversary had eight matches that all delivered, with Pentagon vs. Callihan and the LAX match being the two biggest highlights. I honestly think the six-man tag, the Knockouts Title match, the LAX match, Moose vs. Edwards, and the world title match could be eight-out-of-ten matches.

While Impact’s shows over the past couple of months didn’t meet the lofty standards they set on television earlier this year, that might honestly be more of a nitpick than anything at this point in Impact’s re-growth stage. Because the end result is a loaded up Bound For Glory 2018 card that threatens to be even more exciting than Slammiversary’s show when all is said and done. If so, this could end up being another huge win for Impact and wrestling in general, because if more promotions are successful, wrestlers can start to get the money that they truly deserve.

The fallout from BFG could be just as exciting, but, for now, I’d recommend sitting back and enjoying the show on Sunday. It looks like it will be a special evening of wrestling, and the strength of the card is a testament to the talent that each individual wrestler brings to the table. The likes of Rey Fenix, Tessa Blanchard, and LAX are among the promising young stars in all of wrestling, and there are plenty of elite-level veterans like Johnny Impact and Taya Valkyrie to boot.