8 Innovations TNA/Impact Brought To American Wrestling
6. The Bound For Glory Series
From 2011 until 2013, Impact Wrestling's annual twelve-man points-based tournament, entitled the Bound For Glory Series, became a major reason to invest in their weekly programming in the build to Bound For Glory.
The eventual tournament winners - Bobby Roode, Jeff Hardy, and AJ Styles - all made sense booking-wise, and furthermore, they led to much bigger story arcs. Roode failed to win the title and turned heel on James Storm to become a huge deal within wrestling, Hardy dropped the title to Bully Ray in the match that saw Ray revealed as Aces & Eights' President, and Styles left the company as champion.
Including lower-ranked names like Jay Bradley, Robbie E, and Joseph Park alongside the usual main eventers is part of what made the tournament so successful. The sheer thought of any of those names main eventing Bound For Glory for the company's biggest prize would have turned a few eyeballs.
It has to be said that the tournament matches themselves weren't always great, but it provided you with fresh bouts for a few months, as well as the chance to revisit old rivalries. Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle's Destination X 2012 clash remains an overall highlight of the Series.
Like many other entries on this list, why Impact stopped this after such a short span of time is mind-boggling.