The 2010 Bound for Glory was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), that took place on October 10, 2010, at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was the sixth annual event under the Bound for Glory chronology. Bound For Glory is considered to be the premiere event of the year for the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling company. The event was hyped as "10.10.10", a tagline surrounding a storyline that involved the mystery of "They", who would reveal themselves on the date, making the event remembered for the formation of Immortal.
Bound for Glory featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. Eight matches took place at the event. The main event featured Jeff Hardy defeating Mr. Anderson and Kurt Angle in a Three Way No Disqualification match for the vacant TNA World Heavyweight Championship. In other prominent matches, EV 2.0 (Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Rhino, Sabu, and Stevie Richards defeated Fortune (A.J. Styles, Kazarian, Matt Morgan, and Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode, and James Storm)) in a Lethal Lockdown match, Sting, Kevin Nash and D'Angelo Dinero beat Samoa Joe and Jeff Jarrett in a 3-on-2 Handicap match, Rob Van Dam defeated Abyss in a Monster's Ball match, and in the opening contest The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) defeated Generation Me (Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson).
In October 2017, with the launch of the Global Wrestling Network, the event became available to stream on demand.
Production
Background The sixth annual Bound for Glory PPV spectacle was announced in a press release on June 25, 2010, where it was determined that the event would take place at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. In the press TNA President Dixie Carter stated that, "So many people come to ‘Bound For Glory' from around the world", and added, "We wanted a locale that would truly be a destination. With our biggest pay-per-view of the year and all the fan experiences we have planned, it will make ‘10.10.10' an unforgettable weekend". Tickets for the event went on sale on August 7, 2010. To celebrate the making of the event, a "Bound for Glory Block Party" was held on the same day at the Ocean Center and garnered a good turnout despite weather conditions. It featured fan interaction and an exclusive match.
In October, the final Impact! episode the week leading to Bound for Glory was themed "Before the Glory", a special live broadcast hyping the event. TNA also organized "Bound for Glory VIP Weekend", a series of fan interaction sessions over the event weekend, which allowed fans to get close and personal with their favorite stars for opportunities such as pictures, autographs and special interviews. In addition, the musical theme for Bound for Glory was selected to be "FOL" by The Smashing Pumpkins.
Storylines Bound for Glory featured eight professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
The development of the "10.10.10" angle built over a year was centered on the mystery of “They”, leading to a 3-on-2 Handicap match featuring Jeff Jarrett and Samoa Joe facing Sting, Kevin Nash and D'Angelo Dinero. In October 2009, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff came on board as business partners of TNA President Dixie Carter to take over the on-screen operations of TNA beginning with the new year. Having to earn their spots in the company like everyone else, TNA Founder Jeff Jarrett and former Executive Shareholder Mick Foley both engaged in issues with Bischoff. Acting on his own accord, Bischoff often feuded with Foley and forced Jarrett to work humiliating jobs backstage such as flipping burgers, cleaning restrooms, and placing Jarrett in unfavorable matches. In February, Hogan offered guidance to a neurotically unstable Abyss and this new friendship uplifted Abyss when Hogan gave him his Hall of Fame ring and vowed to make him a “god of wrestling”. In March, Sting attacked Hogan and Abyss, turning heel in the process due to suspicion of Hogan and Bischoff. After Foley lost a Career-Threatening match against Jarrett set up by Bischoff, where the loser was fired as a result, Hogan ordered Bischoff to lay off of Jarrett. At Lockdown, on April 18, Bischoff turned face helping Team Hogan, which included Jarrett, pick up the victory defeating Team Flair. Subsequently, Sting raised his inquisition of Hogan and Bischoff after he was ranked number one by the TNA Championship Committee in the top 10 rankings for a shot at the TNA World Title. By June, Abyss turned heel leading to heated confrontations with Hogan, revealing he was controlled by an entity known as “They”, who he said was coming to TNA on the date of 10.10.10. For costing him his World Title shot on June 13 at Slammiversary, Sting retaliated against Jarrett, resulting in a 30-day suspension without pay by Dixie Carter, who ignored his warnings about Hogan and Bischoff being up to a conspiracy. In August, Sting returned with nWo Wolfpac face paint and helped Kevin Nash, who supported him through the suspension, beat down Hogan, Bischoff and Jarrett. In September, Samoa Joe joined forces with Jarrett in his feud with Sting and Nash, who were later joined by D'Angelo Dinero. Sting, Nash and Dinero would all eventually uncover inside information from Bischoff's assistant, Ms. Tessmacher, that suggested Hogan and Bischoff had been planning something all along. At the end of the month, Sting claimed his good-vs-evil battle with Hogan from WCW was still ongoing and challenged Jarrett, Joe and Hogan to square off with him, Nash and Dinero on October 10 at Bound for Glory. However, due to legitimate back injuries over the years plaguing his body, Hogan underwent surgery and was subject to intensive care, rendering him unable to accept his part in the match as revealed in October. Thus, Bischoff arranged for Joe and Jarrett to take on Sting, Nash and Dinero in a Handicap match.
The primary match heading into Bound for Glory surrounded Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle and Mr. Anderson, who competed in a No Disqualification match for the vacant TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Angle, who returned from a hiatus, was ranked number two by the TNA Championship Committee in the first top 10 rankings, which listed the top contenders for the World Title. However, Angle pulled out of his top 10 ranking position to begin at the bottom in an effort to prove himself, claiming he would retire if he lost a match during his title hunt. On the August 12 Whole F'N Show edition of Impact!, then-TNA World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam sustained multiple severe storyline injuries from a brutal attack by Abyss, forcing him to surrender the title, as seen the next week when vacated by Executive Producer Eric Bischoff. As a result, Bischoff announced a tournament between the top eight contenders, with the finals scheduled to occur at Bound for Glory. That same night, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Anderson, Kurt Angle, and D'Angelo Dinero won their tournament quarterfinal matches. At No Surrender, Hardy and Angle fought to a no contest in their semifinals match, but Anderson defeated Dinero in the main event to advance. On the September 16 edition of Impact!, Bischoff announced a three-way match for Bound for Glory on October 10 between Hardy, Angle and Anderson, but it was overruled by TNA President Dixie Carter pitting Angle and Hardy in a rematch that night. When the match ended in an indecisive double pinfall, Bischoff once again announced the Three Way match for Bound for Glory against Carter's wishes.
A top feud heading into Bound for Glory was Rob Van Dam seeking revenge against Abyss in a Monster's Ball match. For weeks, ECW alumni surfaced by repeatedly appearing in the stands of the Impact Zone, and on the July 15 edition of Impact, then-TNA World Heavyweight Champion Van Dam reunited with his longtime co-employees from the defunct promotion, who saved him from an onslaught by Abyss. On the August 12 special edition of Impact, named the Whole F'N Show, Van Dam defended his title against Abyss in a Stairway to Janice match. Later in the night, Van Dam and the ECW alumni, dubbed EV 2.0, were attacked by Abyss and Fortune respectively. The attack on Van Dam was severely brutal, sidelining him with serious storyline injuries, and forcing him to relinquish the World Title. He made his resurfacing on the September 16 edition of Impact via telephone interview, where he announced he was returning to the Impact Zone the following week against his doctor's orders. On that week's show, Van Dam confronted Abyss referencing that his doctors said he would be cleared for 10.10.10 and demanded a match against Abyss at Bound for Glory, which Bischoff agreed to sanction. Two weeks later, Abyss suggested that their encounter at the event be a Monster's Ball match. On the October 7 episode of Impact named "Before the Glory", when Abyss was fated to be fired by Bischoff for mishandling TNA President Dixie Carter, Van Dam threatened to quit the company if his chance slipped to face Abyss at Bound for Glory and so, Carter followed through and quickly signed papers for the firing of Abyss the day after the pay-per-view.