I had a good time attending my first live TNA pay-per-view Sunday night at The Liacouras Center in Philadelphia. Overall, I thought Lockdown -- with its all cage-match format -- was entertaining, and taking a bus up to the event with fifty-some fans also helped make it a fun experience.

The big news is that Mick Foley defeated Sting to become the new TNA world champion, and former WWE star Bobby Lashley was revealed as the “world champion from another organization” who has signed with TNA. The best match on the show was the Philadelphia Street Fight that saw Team 3-D defeat Beer Money for the TNA world tag team title.

There was definitely a different vibe at the show than there is at a WWE pay-per-view event. Everything was smaller at Lockdown – the venue, the crowd, the set, etc. – but I don’t necessarily view that as a negative. It’s like comparing a big-budget movie with A-list stars to an independent film with some well-known actors and promising newcomers. Both of them can have merit.

TNA cannot compete with WWE when it comes to production values, star power and mass appeal, but it can fill a void as an alternative for wrestling fans. The key for TNA to succeed in that regard is to differentiate itself from WWE, which it seemingly is trying to do.

For example, while WWE has banned blading, TNA had four matches at Lockdown that had blood. As WWE has become more family friendly as far as language and raunchy content, TNA has gotten more risqué.

The WWE-TNA dichotomy reminds me of the philosophical differences between the WWF and Jim Crockett Promotions in the mid-1980s. You had Hulk Hogan playing the part of a superhero and Cyndi Lauper getting involved in story lines on WWE programming, while wrestlers were engaging in bloody brawls and attacking each other with baseball bats in parking lots on JCP shows. I enjoyed watching them both.

One thing TNA needs to do a better job of is creating TNA stars. Almost all of the guys on top right now made their names in WWE and/or WCW. That trend continued at Lockdown, as Foley and Team 3-D won titles and Lashley was given the star treatment in his debut. The positive is that Lashley is only 32.

Lashley got a big pop when he came out on the stage, which surprised me because he was never able to get over as a top-tier guy when he was in WWE. It will be interesting to see if TNA fans truly embrace Lashley once he debuts on television.

A lot of people – including me – thought that Tazz was going to be the mystery man. I’m not sure that Lashley’s stint as champion in the new ECW qualifies him as a former world champion, so it never crossed my mind that it could be him. I know that Booker T. had been trying to recruit Lashley since he left WWE, and Kurt Angle has been high on him going back to when Angle was in WWE and Lashey was in developmental.

Here is a match-by-match look at the show:

Mick Foley defeated Sting to win the TNA world title: It’s pretty amazing that Foley and Sting are wrestling for a world title on pay-per-view in 2009. Foley hasn’t held a world title since 1999 and he has had just one world title match since 2000 (he competed in a five-way WWE title match in 2007). I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this match was bad, but it was disappointing considering how good the build for it was on TV. Foley, playing his Cactus Jack character, started the match by repeatedly punching himself above the eye, which opened up a pre-existing wound. The crowd was somewhat divided, but Foley seemed to be getting more boos than cheers. The match had a methodical pace and fans started getting restless at about the 7-minute mark. Things picked up after Foley kicked a hole in the cage and took out a camera man. He reached out for his barbed wire baseball bat, but it was too far away, and a camera man (not sure if it was the same one Foley had just knocked down) handed it to him. That was pretty silly. The match ended when Foley made his way over the top of the cage and onto the floor seconds before Sting reached the floor. It was somewhat anti-climactic, as the fans seemed more surprised than anything that Foley won, and Foley’s tease on TV that he would perform a big move didn’t materialize (which is probably just as well).

Team Jarrett (Jeff Jarrett, A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels) defeated Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Booker T., Scott Steiner and Kevin Nash) in the Lethal Lockdown match: The story line focused on whether or not Jarrett would turn on his teammates and join The Main Event Mafia. He didn’t. For the finish, Jarrett teased hitting Styles with the guitar, but he hit Booker instead and Styles pinned him for the win. After the match was over, Joe teased that he was going to hit Jarrett with the guitar, but he dropped it instead. The highlight of the match saw Styles dive through a gimmicked part of the cage roof onto several wrestlers below. There’s no safe way to do that spot. Styles’ body was out of control, but no one appeared to be seriously hurt. Before that move, Styles and Angle were fighting on the roof, teasing that one was going to throw the other off of it. When that didn’t happen, the fans booed. Sick Philadelphia freaks. Steiner continues to move a lot better than he did during his WWE stint, and he popped the crowd by hitting a Frankensteiner on Styles off the top rope. When the fans cheered the move, Steiner flipped them off. Classic Steiner. I’m not sure if the announcers addressed this in commentary, but Samoa Joe was late when it was his turn to enter the match. I also thought it was odd that Jarrett went right after Steiner and began bashing him in the head with a pan without even a hint of indecisiveness (unless I missed it). In the buildup to this match, it had been established that Jarrett and Steiner were friends.

Team 3-D defeated Beer Money in a Philadelphia Street Fight to win the TNA world tag team title: Thanks to the popularity of Team 3-D in Philly and a fantastic build on TV, the crowd was more into this match than any other. When all four guys brawled through the crowd, a loud “E-C-W!” chant broke out. For a second, I thought Jack Swagger had entered the building. There were some nice near falls and the crowd was popping for everything, especially the “Get the tables!” spot. At one point, the crowd chanted “We want fire!” Sick Philadelphia freaks. Team 3-D won by hitting the 3-D on Robert Roode after James Storm inadvertently slammed the cage door in Roode’s face. It will be interesting to see if Beer Money stays together and the program continues, or if Roode and Storm split up and feud with each other. If the latter happens, it appears that Roode would be the babyface. Last week, Kevin Nash put Roode over as a “natural babyface” in a radio interview with me.

Matt Morgan defeated Abyss in a Doomsday Chamber of Blood match: As far as hardcore and weapons matches go, this was average at best. Near the end of the match, Dr. Stevie Richards – fresh off his appearance with Maryland Championship Wrestling last weekend – came down to the ring and was greeted by an “E-C-W!” chant before he physically stopped Abyss from using a chair and thumbtacks. With Abyss distracted, Morgan hit a tree slam on him into the tacks for the win. I thought a violent match such as this could really help Morgan get over if booked correctly, but I don’t think it did much for him at all.

Angelina Love defeated Taylor Wilde and TNA women’s champion Awesome Kong to win the title: The bookers didn’t do Wilde any favors, as she was made to look like a naïve babyface. She and Kong worked together against Love early, but then after Kong double-crossed her, Wilde still kept trying to befriend her. For much of the match, Kong was just tossing both of them around. The highlight was Kong missing a somersault splash off the top rope. Now that was impressive for someone her size. The set-up to the finish was pretty clever, as Love and Velvet Sky (who was outside the cage) tied Kong’s braids to the cage, leaving Love and Wilde to battle it out. Wilde hit a crossbody off the top onto Love, who must have landed hard on the back of her head because she appeared to be legitimately out of it. Wilde went for a cover, but then popped up at “two” without Love kicking out. They improvised at that point, and Wilde grabbed a sleeper. Wilde then went to check on Kong, but Kong kicked her and Love weakly rolled her up for the win.

X Division champion Suicide defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir, Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed and Kiyoshi in an Xscape Match: Lots of high spots here as expected. It came down to Suicide (I’m guessing it was Daniels) and Bashir. Kiyoshi came down to the ring to distract Suicide, who then did a spectacular dive off the top of the cage onto Kiyoshi and security for the win. While Suicide was still making his way up the ramp, an interview with Daniels and Styles appeared on the screen. That was a nice touch (if the placement was on purpose).

IWGP junior heavyweight tag team champions The Motor City Machine Guns defeated No Limit and LAX: I still can’t figure out whether the Guns are babyfaces or heels. There were some cool spots but also a couple botched ones, as it appeared that there were some communication problems. Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin hit a double sliced bread on Naito for the win.

ODB defeated Sojo Bolt, Madison Rayne and Daffney in a Queen of the Cage match: They all worked hard, but the crowd was really only into ODB, who pinned Bolt for the win. Perhaps it’s just me, but I don’t think Cody Deaner adds anything to ODB’s act.

PRESHOW MATCH

Eric Young defeated Danny Bonaduce: Well done for what it was. Bonaduce was in incredible shape and had a lot of heel heat. On his way to the ring, he began jawing with a fan in the front row. When the fan pointed at Bonaduce, he grabbed the guy’s finger and started biting it, and then slapped him hard in the head. The fan got up and tried to go after Bonaduce, but he was restrained by security and taken out. That had to be a plant. At one point, Bonaduce hit a modified Swanton Bomb. Young got the win with a sloppy small package after ducking Bonaduce’s attempt to hit him with nunchucks. They shook hands after the match, but Bonaduce attacked Young when he turned his back and began choking him with the nunchucks. Rhino made the save and hit a heck of a Gore on Bonaduce.