Impact Wrestling
Bound for Glory 2022
October 7, 2022
Washington Avenue Armory
Albany, New York

Watch: FITE

Impact Wrestling’s biggest event of the year, Bound for Glory, takes place this Friday (October 7) at the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, New York. In the main event, Josh Alexander defends his Impact World Championship against Eddie Edwards.

On paper, Bound for Glory looks like a good show. Impact doesn’t feel hugely hot or buzzworthy right now but the product is very well-booked and is an easy watch every week. The whole card has been well-built and the four big title matches all have the potential to hit four stars or more.

Countdown to Bound for Glory

Digital Media Championship
Brian Myers (C) vs. TBA

I’m still not a convert to needing four singles titles within a promotion of Impact’s size but of all the Digital Media Championship reigns there’ve been so far, Myers has definitely had the best one. His character work has been great and he’s suitably delivered in the ring. 

After defeating Crazzy Steve a couple of weeks ago to rack up his sixth official title defense, Myers announced that he was issuing an Open Challenge for Bound for Glory. 

My initial assumption was that Impact would use this spot to reintroduce Joe Hendry, someone they never really ‘got’ the first time round but who seems in line for more of a push this time round. However, he’s since been announced for the Call Your Shot Gauntlet. As it now won’t be him, I’ll lean towards it being Matt Cardona or an entirely new face. Either way, I suspect Myers drops the title here. Prediction: TBA

Bound for Glory 

20-person Call Your Shot Gauntlet

The Call Your Shot Gauntlet, which grants a title shot for any championship of the winner’s choosing, has become an annual Bound for Glory staple of the D’Amore era. The 2022 edition will be the fourth in this guise, with Eddie Edwards, Rhino and Moose as the previous winners.

Already confirmed for this year’s lineup are: PCO, Rich Swann, Gisele Shaw, Heath, Bhupinder Gujjar, Bobby Fish, Steve Maclin, Moose, Sami Callihan, Johnny Swinger, Killer Kelly, Savannah Evans, Tasha Steelz, Joe Hendry and Eric Young. That’s 15 names, leaving five surprises for the night.

Steve Maclin has very much been teased as the next title challenger but given the way things worked out on the go-home show with Moose and Sami Callihan, that saga is probably still not done. Eric Young has been given a repackage of sorts with Joe Doering away but he doesn’t need to win here. Neither does Bobby Fish, as although they’ve teased a match with Josh Alexander for the title, this would be a weird way to give it to him.

Taking those guys out of the running, I’m left with the inclination I’ve had for ages and that’s PCO. Rumbling away for months now has been the dissension in Honor No More between Eddie Edwards and PCO, with Edwards repeatedly criticizing PCO for being a liability. Giving PCO the win here works whichever way they go with the main event and sets up some fun stuff for the French-Canadian as the year draws to a close. Prediction: PCO

Mickie James vs. Mia Yim

Mickie James’ ‘Last Rodeo’ tour continues here as she looks to move to 4-0 and closer to a shot at the Knockouts World title. Should she lose, she’ll have to retire. 

This is the first match of the Last Rodeo tour where James losing has felt like a genuine possibility – Bound for Glory is a big show for them and Yim is a talent with a lot of cache and credibility in the promotion. 

However, I’m confident it’s not the end of the line yet. Yim’s current contract reportedly only runs through to this show, so her putting over someone else on her way out would make sense. Likewise, I think that James will get much closer to the title before they have her lose. In terms of the bell-to-bell, this should be pretty good as Yim is great and James has got her working boots on. Prediction: Mickie James

Impact Wrestling Knockouts World Tag Team Championship
VXT (Chelsea Green & Deonna Purrazzo) (C) vs. The Death Dolls (Taya Valkyrie & Jessicka) (w/Rosemary) 

It’s hard to express how little interest I have in this match, which is easily the weakest on paper on the entire show.

The story here has been all about the babyfaces getting a rematch for the titles they lost back in August but not being able to work out the best combination. They’ve settled on Taya and Jessicka, who is Havok but with more pink. 

I have no real feel for how they’ll go with the booking but Purrazzo and Green are the infinitely better team. If I had the pencil, they’d keep the belts for a while. Prediction: VXT

Impact Wrestling World Tag Team Championship
Honor No More (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) (C) (w/Maria Kanellis-Bennett) vs. The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) 

Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the match I’m looking forward to most.

Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin have been doing some of the best work of their careers this year, whether that’s in singles settings or as a team, and they come into this on the heels of really fun matches with Violent By Design and Aussie Open. Taven and Bennett haven’t had the chance to properly stretch their legs in a two-on-two setting yet but they’re capable of brilliance too and you know they’ll be buzzing for this one.

Taven and Bennett are still in the early days of their run with the titles and I feel they will retain but I wouldn’t be shocked if they lost. Firstly, it’s the Guns they’re facing, arguably the promotion’s MVPs this year. Additionally, although you’d hope Impact would move to keep them around, Taven and Bennett’s contracts are also reportedly up soon. Prediction: Honor No More

Impact Wrestling X-Division Championship
Mike Bailey (C) vs. Frankie Kazarian 

Mike Bailey is closing in on four months as X-Division Champion. His current story is that he’s chasing down Christopher Daniels’ record of X-Division title defenses in a single reign, which is 13. A victory over Frankie Kazarian here would take Bailey up to 10 defenses. 

Frankie Kazarian has made a few appearances for Impact this year, including having a **** match with Chris Sabin in June. He returned at Victory Road, winning the Triple Threat Revolver to secure a title shot on this show.

We all know this is going to be very good at a bare minimum, with the potential to be something special given the year Bailey’s having and the ability Kazarian still has. I’m not ruling out a Kaz win out but this seems a short loan from AEW to help Bailey get closer to that Daniels record (and possible Daniels match in the next few months?). Prediction: Mike Bailey

Impact Wrestling Knockouts World Championship
Jordynne Grace (C) vs. Masha Slamovich 

I think it’s fair to say that Grace’s second run with the title has been more effective than her first. The onset of the pandemic stunted her momentum the first time round, whereas this time she’s looked more comfortable and projects herself much better. 

Slamovich has gone undefeated since getting a permanent deal with Impact, racking up a singles win-loss record this year of 16-0. While I do have concerns about the number of contract signings they’ve done in Impact this year, the go-home segment cemented what they’ve done throughout the build – present Slamovich as an absolute killer and Grace as a valiant champion who won’t be intimidated.

Conventional booking logic suggests that because Slamovich stood tall coming into this match, she will probably lose here. However, I think they will continue her rocket push and belt her up. They can then run a rematch before following up on their planted seeds between Grace and Mickie James. Prediction: Masha Slamovich

Impact Wrestling World Championship
Josh Alexander (C) vs. Eddie Edwards

This is a match that Impact has been building for the better part of six months now.

In his first promo as Honor No More leader, Edwards bemoaned the fact he never got a title shot when Kenny Omega was World Champion, despite beating him in a six-man tag. He felt he’d been stabbed in the back by the promotion he’d given so much to, so he was happy to turn on them and find a new family. He’s since been working towards getting a title shot, a shot he eventually earned in August by winning a six-man elimination match. 

I’ve gone on record before to say that Josh Alexander is my favorite wrestler in the world, so I might be a little biased, but his work in the build has been good and this interview with Tom Hannifan was great. More stuff like this going forward, please!

I’m not sure this match feels as hot as the promotion were hoping for but I’m looking forward to it. Eddie has been effective as a heel when given time in his singles matches and in Josh he’s got an opponent who’ll give him a lot and will work hard to make this as good as possible. I do think there’s a chance of Eddie winning but with the next few title contenders seemingly lined up already – namely Steve Maclin and the Call Your Shot winner – I suspect Alexander wins here and keeps his reign rolling on. Prediction: Josh Alexander