Eddie Dunn sent this one in:
I attended the Bound for Glory PPV in Philadelphia, PA Sunday night and I figured it’d be nice to share a few things.
First of all, there was a moderately sized line outside the arena before the doors opened. There was a Dr. Pepper 10 truck outside with the entire bed filled with soda and they were giving free samples to anybody who wanted one, and taking pictures with some people for their ad campaign. Also, Don West was outside selling guitars for $150. If you bought a guitar, which surprisingly many did, you got to go backstage and have Jeff Jarrett sign it.
Side Note: This was the first time I have been to a TNA show, and they have got some strange fans. I’m not sure if security was bad, or what, but there were many people getting high right outside the doors to the lobby before they were opened.
Secondly, the Liacouras Center isn’t very big to begin with, however it did look larger on the TV screens. The floor was virtually 100% full as was the lower level, opposite the camera. I was sitting on the camera side and there were a ton of empty seats on that side. The top section was about the same as the lower section, with the majority of the people opposite the camera and nobody in the nosebleeds. There were no sections tarped off, that I could see.
Some former pros were in attendance, those from ECW as well, including Axl Rotten and Big Slam, who were in my section. Funny scene: the group next to us believed that Big Slam, who at one point had a gimmick “Big Slam Vader” was the actual Van Vader and kept calling him that throughout the night and taking pictures with him thinking it was Vader. Dixie Carter was in a suite with her family 1 section over from our group right behind the cameras during the majority of the show.
I’m not sure how everything came across on TV, but there wasn’t really anyone with the definitive loudest pop. The Philly fans were generally in favor of the older faces. The most heavily cheered were Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Sting, Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy, and Mr. Anderson. There weren’t many people who were booed though. Also, during the main event match with Kurt Angle and Bobby Roode, the ending was flawed. Now we are not sure how it looked on TV, or what any of the commentators said, but when Angle pinned Roode, Roode’s arm was under the rope. I’m not sure if there is a rule for a rope break in that situation in TNA like there is in WWE, if it was mentioned on the broadcast, or if it is going to be a part of a storyline, but I found that very interesting.
All in all, I found it very entertaining, with many bright spots. Of course, my group got in for free with comp’d tickets from someone backstage, so I wasn’t setting myself up for disappointment, as one might say.
– Edward D.