How Does The 2012 Bound For Glory Series Stack Up?

[ABMorales787]

It came, we say, it fucking conquered. This year's BFG Series was truly awesome. The rules were finally solid, the idea was perfectly set and the wrestlers executed the build on these matches amazingly. From June to September we sat each week watch 2 to 3 quality matches a week as well as seeing the unique dynamics implemented at times by the wrestlers to get points. Samoa Joe soared due to being a submissions expert as did Kurt Angle to an extent. Jeff Hardy was forced to come up with a submission to reach the finals and Bully Ray got more clean wins than most heels put together did this year. Each Impact episode was headlined by a PPV-main event quality matches like Jeff Hardy vs James Storm, AJ Styles vs Kurt Angle and on without arousing the typical Nitro/WCW comparisons. A massive step up from last year's mess and something very worth seeing again in 2013.

 

[clinicallyawesome]

Yeah, it was really awesome.

In today's world with the internet and leaked rumors, it's cool to have something that keeps you guessing. I mean 3 months ago when this started, was Hardy v Aries really the match people thought would headline BFG? Hell no. It was Storm v Roode.

In the WWE, a lot of people can make an educated guess on the WM mainevent by the begining of January. By the Rumble, obviously we can pencil in half the card.

TNA kept it going. Maybe it was because we half expected everyone to be involved with Aces and 8's at some point (the swerve being there was no turn, yet. Good job).

Love the BFG series. Next year, hopefully is Joe's time. I'm ready for him to mainevent my pay per views again.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I'm with you on this, KJ. This years' BFG series was fucking dominant from head-to-toe. Could we have maybe done without Robbie E being a part of the process? Sure, but like I said to the people bitching about the main event of No Surrender, one decision is simply not enough to ruin the recipe.

The fact that we managed to get through the entire series without clearly predicting a winner is about as big a testament to it's MASSIVE success as you can point to without having prior knowledge of the outcome IMO.

Beyond giving Hardy a springboard back into the main event, it also gave major berths to the returning Samoa Joe and James Storm, as well as gave a tremendous spot light to Bully Ray, who as a result is likely to be next in line for a major run at the title.

 

[Adalam]

I gotta say, I loved the BFG Series this year! I knew that when Aries defeated Roode in the win or go home match, that it would be Aries vs Bully Ray. Then last night happened with Hardy winning, telling me that TNA knows how to leave people guessing at the very least. That's some good writing for this year's series and the way they built Ray, Hardy, and Samoa Joe up was pretty good too.

 

[SpecialFNK]

Jeff Hardy vs Austin Aries at BFG should be great. it's going to be exciting to see Jeff Hardy win the title again after everything he's been through.

I can't really argue against the final 4 of this years BFG series. you had to know James Storm would be in there. it's fitting that Jeff Hardy was there as popular as he is. Bully Ray has been a great heel, he deserved to be in there. he also fit as being speculated in connection with Aces/Eights. it was good to see Samoa Joe get on this level, he should be back in the heavyweight title scene.
I was thinking going into the BFG series it would be good to get Magnus elevated, but I don't think he should have replaced any of the final 4.
even though the BFG series this year went great and the final 4 were all deserving, I can't rate this years BFG series higher than last years BFG series, because last years BFG series is what made James Storm and Bobby Roode into singles wrestlers.

 

[IHW]

It did everything it needed to do. I say its a great success.

The Bound For Glory Series was made to build up for Bound For Glory. And, it did exactly that. Coming out of the BFG Series, we have three great looking matches. Jeff Hardy vs. Austin Aries, of course. Then, James Storm vs. Bobby Roode. This obviously has a bigger background than the 2012 Series, but the feud still has been developed from it. Then, the spark between Joe vs. Magnus has been lit. Aces and Eights have been connected with the Series from the start. So, its obvious that they are leading to something at BFG as well. Bully Ray has gained tons of momentum from the series. I am excited to see where he goes from here.

This years Series has been just as great, if not better, than the last.

 

[Theo Mays]

I thoroughly enjoyed the BFG series this time around. Last year I really dug the concept and this year they tweaked it a bit with the rules and had a major better cast this time around. Unlike IDR, I enjoyed Robbie E's involvement. I actually like the guy and thought he was entertaining throughout despite not being a serious threat.

Definitely a success though. We saw a reemergence of Samoa Joe and now he looks to be moving back up the ranks in TNA again, we saw Bully Ray continue to solidify himself as the top heel in the business, we saw Jeff Hardy finally get back into the main event and achieve what has been a good comeback thus far, and James Storm rise back and now we get the closure with him and Roode. You can also add the emergence of Magnus as a solid singles guy who should continue to move up. When it is all said it done, I gotta give it a thumbs up. Well done by TNA management.

 

[#SAWFT]

Okay, I'll admit, the idea of the BFG Series is brilliant. I just personally didn't like it. I feel like Jeff Hardy only won on a curveball, but everybody wanted Bully Ray to win, and I think Austin Aries vs Bully Ray sounds much better than Austin Aires vs Jeff Hardy.

Just my two cents.

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

Yeah it was fantastic, you had PPV worthy matches and also me personally, with the exception of Robbie and maybe Pope, everyone in it felt like real legit competitors to the title. I think as a wrestling fan I enjoy numbers lol I think that's why a lot of people got behind Goldberg's streak, and wrestlers' title reigns, things like that.

I thought Magnus was dead set to be in the final four. And I had no idea they were gonna push Joe. The series was very unpredictable IMO, but here it was a good thing and not a bad thing!

I have only one complaint. If you remember last year's they would always show the results of matches that happened on Xplosion and they would film at house shows too. Tenay and Taz would just sum up each little match that happened and its result. It literally took 20 seconds. I feel by doing that in increased the scale of the series, made it feel larger, if that makes any sense, and hit home the point that "every win matters". Fans at house shows would also feel like they're watching something more important. This time they didn't seem to acknowledge any of the house show or Xplosion matches that took place.

 

[Wald]

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. It's the best idea anyone has had in pro-wrestling in about 10 years to be honest, kudos to whoever came up with the concept.

This year they worked out last year's kinks and made it seem so much important. I genuinely can't wait til next year's series

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The 2012 BFG Series was a huge improvement over the 2011 series in just about every way. TNA fixed a lot of the problems when it comes to the point system and delivered matches on television that consistently, not always but most of the time, felt relevant and were worth watching.

Most of the matches in last years series, at least on television, were lucky if they went 5minutes and just came off as little more than filler to me. This year, with the 15 minute time limit imposed, most of the BFG Series matches on tv went over the 10 minute mark with many coming close to the 15 minute limit.

A couple of things that TNA could work on that I think could only improve things next year are relatively minor.

I think TNA needs to have produced at least a couple of other solid stars by that time. I could see Austin Aries competing in the series next year and it'd be nice to see some other new faces rather than have most of the particpants be made up of most of the TNA main eventers for the past several years. Seeing matches that are almost a rehash of this year's series would be lackluster.

I also think TNA should do their best to not include wrestlers that we know from the very beginning have no chance of winning. We all knew that Magnus, Pope & Robbie E didn't have a sugar cube's chance in an ant hill of winning the BFG Series. I think if TNA could incorporate the notion of portraying every participant as someone that at least has a chance, then it'll be damn near perfect.

 

[Warrior]

This years BFG Series was a Success, but more importantly, it was a huge improvement over last years BFG Series. The 2011 Bound for Glory Series suffered from flaws that this years Series addressed in full. Last year, the structure of the whole thing was screwed up. Gunner walked into the Final 4 with 20 Matches, while styles had 11 and Joe had 10. Roode and Bully both had 16. Which is 3 more then the final member of the final 4 James storm. This year, every one had 13 matches(minus Anderson). This made everyone seem more equal. The competitors were also far more balanced Robbie E is much better at being the big loser than Scott Steiner. The top 4 is also much better. Last year i knew that it would either be Storm or Roode. This year I thought It could of been Bully, Storm, or Hardy. I really cant wait for BFG and next years BFG Series should be amazing.

 

[HBsam31]

I liked it a lot. They worked out a lot of the kinks from last year, and I really think it did its job. It kept us guessing until the very end. We got to see a lot of quality matches. It gave Joe the kickstart he needed. Just some many positives came out of it this year. The main event of BFG should be awesome. Yeah it was a success for sure.