In the main event, Kurt Angle defeated Bobby Roode to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

[4] On July 14, 2011 Sting, in an interview with ESPN SportsCenter anchor Robert Flores, declared that the event would be held in Philadelphia at the Liacouras Center on October 16, 2011.

The show featured exclusive interviews with wrestlers talking about their memories from previous Bound for Glory events.

The master plan was soon revealed on October 10 at Bound for Glory 2010, when Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Jeff Jarrett, Abyss and newly crowned TNA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy were revealed to be "They", an entity Abyss claimed for several months would come forth at the event.

to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, retaining the belt during his feud with Immortal until on June 12 at Slammiversary IX, where he began a short back-and-forth rivalry with Mr. Anderson for the title and eventually won it back.

On the October 6 episode of Impact, Hogan agreed to give TNA back to Dixie Carter if Sting won the match.

According to the rules, the top four wrestlers that accumulated the most points that were earned from matches held on Impact!, live shows, and pay per views, would compete in tournament finals matches at No Surrender, where the winner would gain the opportunity to challenge for the TNA World Title at the company's biggest annual spectacle.

[8] In September, Bobby Roode, Bully Ray, Gunner and James Storm emerged as the top four contenders heading into No Surrender.

Roode then defeated Bully Ray later in the night to break the tie and become the number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

Another rivalry heading into Bound for Glory was between Rob Van Dam and Jerry Lynn, who fought in a Full Metal Mayhem match.

The two reignited their rivalry over their extreme days in the defunct ECW similar to how the X Division operated and on July 10 at Destination X, Van Dam defeated Lynn.

On the September 1 episode of Impact!, Lynn turned on Van Dam, costing him a loss in a match with Gunner and the entire tournament as a whole.

On the September 29 edition of Impact, Kendrick won a five-man Ladder match against Alex Shelley, Zema Ion, Kid Kash, and Jesse Sorensen to earn a rematch with Aries for the title.

TNA Women's Knockout Champion Winter defended her title against Velvet Sky, Mickie James, and Madison Rayne, with Karen Jarrett serving as special guest referee.

Bishop felt that the company delivered its best show in recent memory that was marred by a "horrendous finish in the main event", but went on to call the action, "outstanding".

For other top rated matches, Anderson-Bully Ray received a 7 out of 10, Rob Van Dam-Jerry Lynn got 7 out of 10, and Austin Aries-Brian Kendrick got 7 out of 10.

[9] 411 Mania writer of the wrestling section, Colin Rinehart, rated the event an 8.5 out of 10, praising the show as "far and away TNA's best PPV of the year so far" and "probably the most consistently entertaining Bound for Glory yet in company history", giving it an "Easy and enthusiastic Thumbs Up."