TNA Lockdown thoughts
It was obvious from watching TNA’s Lockdown pay-per-view Sunday night that Kurt Angle – despite his history of serious neck and spinal injuries – still has a burning desire to steal the show.
Angle accomplished his goal, as he and Jeff Jarrett had the best match of the night by far. But more importantly – and somewhat miraculously – Angle made it through the match without suffering a catastrophic injury.
There was one incredibly scary spot during the match in which I thought Angle may have been paralyzed – or worse.
With Jarrett positioned on the top rope, Angle climbed up and seemed to be setting up for a Huracanrana. I’m not sure if what they were trying to pull off actually was a Huracanrana or if it was supposed to be Jarrett executing a Power Bomb. Regardless, Angle came crashing down on the mat right on his head.
When he didn’t move for a few seconds, I thought for sure we were witnessing a tragedy unfolding on live TV. It reminded me of Brock Lesnar’s botched Shooting Star Press in his match against Angle at WrestleMania XIX in 2003.
As Jarrett began to climb the cage again, the motionless Angle suddenly sprang up off the mat, jumped onto the ropes and hit an Angle Slam. Minutes later, Angle did a Moonsault off the top of the cage. He’s either a freak of nature or the luckiest man alive – or both.
The rest of the all-cage match show wasn’t bad, but except for the Lethal Lockdown match between Fortune and Immortal, nothing really stood out.
There were no turns or swerves (unless you consider the fact that there were no swerves a swerve), but I certainly don’t view that as a negative.
My biggest fear was that A.J. Styles was going to return and turn on Fortune. He did indeed show up and get involved in the Lethal Lockdown match, but logic prevailed and he sided with Fortune.
Here is a match-by-match look at the show:
Fortune (Beer Money, Kazarian and Daniels) defeated Immortal (Ric Flair, Abyss, Bully Ray and Matt Hardy) in a Lethal Lockdown match (22:50): Kazarian and Abyss started the match and went at it for three minutes. From there, competitors entered the match every two minutes, with Immortal having the numbers advantage. The order of entry was: Hardy, Daniels, Flair, Storm, Ray and Roode. Once all eight participants were in the match, the roof filled with weapons was lowered and the match officially began. Want to guess who was covered in blood within minutes after entering the match? Yep, it was Flair, who did another obvious blade job (you would think he’d be better at it considering how often he gigs himself) after Storm smashed him in the head with a beer bottle. The sight of a bloody Flair with his paints ripped and his butt half-exposed was definitely not one of the highlights of the night.
At one point, Hardy and Daniels left the cage and fought on the roof. Hardy back-dropped Daniels, nearly sending Daniels over the edge. Hardy then hit the Twist of Hate and climbed down. After Daniels recovered, he hit a flying bodypress off the top of the cage onto Hardy and Abyss, who were both on the floor. That was impressive. Back in the cage, Ray and Flair had gotten kendo sticks and were nailing all of the Fortune members with them. As Ray taunted Daniels (who had been busted open hard-way by the kendo stick) by saying, “This is for your good friend, A.J.,” Styles’ music hit and he made his way into the cage. He went right after Ray, the man who had “injured” him. Meanwhile, Roode applied a Fujiwara Armbar to Flair, who tapped out to end the match.
TNA world champion Sting defeated Mr. Anderson and Rob Van Dam in a three-way match (7:52): This was far too short for a world title match on pay-per-view, but it was like an Iron Man Match compared to the 88-second Jeff Hardy debacle at Victory Road last month. This match was good while it lasted. At one point, Sting applied the Scorpion Leglock to Anderson and RVD simultaneously, and later, Anderson hit the Mic Check on Sting and RVD at the same time. With all three men down at about the 6-minute mark, Hulk Hogan came down to the ring carrying a pipe (the kind you hit people over the head with, not the kind RVD smokes). He handed the pipe to RVD and encouraged him to use it. RVD teased that he would before finally throwing it against the cage in Hogan’s direction. Anderson retrieved the pipe and hit RVD with it. To make it clear that he was not joining Immortal, Anderson yelled, “I’m doing it for me, not for you!” at Hogan. As Anderson was about to cover RVD, Sting grabbed him from behind and hit the Scorpion Death Drop to retain the title. After Hogan made his way back up the ramp, he glared back at Sting, who motioned for Hogan to get in the ring. Hogan said he would do it on his time and walked away. I sure hope this doesn’t mean TNA is building to a Sting-Hogan match for the title.
Jeff Jarrett defeated Kurt Angle in an Ultra Male Rules two-out-of-three falls match (22:40): In this match, the first fall was to be decided by submission; the second by pinfall; and the third by escaping the cage. The referee refused to allow Karen Jarrett to stand outside the ring, but, as I expected, it wouldn’t be the last we saw of her. Angle won the first fall at approximately the 5-minute mark when he turned Jarrett’s Cross Armbreaker into the Ankle Lock. Jarrett evened things up at a fall apiece when Angle went for an Angle Slam, but Jarrett turned it into a Sunset Flip and held Angle’s tights for a three count. Then things got wild during the third fall. After delivering a series of German suplexes, Angle started to leave through the cage door but then stopped while standing on the ring steps. He decided to go back in and deliver more punishment. That told me right there that Jarrett was probably going to end up winning the match.
After the insane Huracanrana/Power Bomb spot, Angle tried to escape the cage, but Gunner ran down to ringside with a chair and would not allow Angle to drop down. Scott Steiner then came out to run off Gunner, and Angle went for a Moonsault off the top. I’m not sure if he was supposed to land on Jarrett or not, but it appeared that he barely grazed him. At about the 20-minute mark, Angle tried to leave through the door again, but Karen came down and sprayed something in his eyes. The blinded Angle then inadvertently clotheslined the referee. Jarrett – who was bleeding from the forehead – tried to crawl out the door, but Angle hooked on the Ankle Lock. Karen then found a guitar under the ring and handed it to Jarrett, who bashed Angle over the head with it. From there, there was a tug of war with Jarrett, who was halfway through the door, as Angle had his legs and Karen had his arms. Finally, Karen slammed the cage door on Angle’s head, and Jarrett fell to the floor for the victory.
Matt Morgan defeated Hernandez (8:10): After gaining the advantage thanks to Anarquia grabbing Morgan’s leg through the hole in the cage that’s there for the camera, Hernandez began strutting around the ring. His hesitation allowed Morgan to recover, and Morgan landed a big clothesline. After some more back-and-forth action, Hernandez came off the top rope, but Morgan caught him in mid-air with a perfectly timed Carbon Footprint for the win. While celebrating, Morgan motioned to his waist to signify that he was going after the world title. After the match, Sarita and Rosita – who had been at ringside with Anarquia during the match – got in the ring and cut an anti-American promo. Velvet Sky then came down and cleaned house.
Samoa Joe defeated “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero (10:21): This was a good back-and-forth match. The story was that Dinero was afraid of Joe and kept trying to escape. Joe got the win after hitting the Muscle Buster and then forcing Dinero to tap out to a rear naked choke. This was a decisive victory for Joe and appeared to be the blow-off to the feud. It will be interesting to see where Dinero goes from here.
Mickie James defeated TNA Knockouts champion Madison Rayne to win the title (0:36): The stipulation was that James would get her head shaved if she lost. We all knew that wasn’t happening, so the outcome was never in doubt. After the bell rang, James threw Rayne into the cage a few times and then hit a swinging DDT for the win. James was working the match with a legitimately injured shoulder, which explains the quick finish. With the victory, James became the first woman to hold the WWE women’s title, WWE Divas title and TNA Knockouts championship.
Ink Inc. defeated The British Invasion, Scott Steiner and Crimson, and Eric Young and Orlando Jordan in a four-way tag team match (8:52): Steiner was way more over with the crowd that anyone else in the match. There were some “comedy” spots with Young that weren’t funny and added nothing to the match. Near the end, Young climbed out of the cage and thought he won, but the match could only end by pinfall or submission. Moore hit the Mooregasm on Douglas Williams of the British Invasion for the win.
Max Buck defeated Brian Kendrick, Amazing Red, Jeremy Buck, Jay Lethal, Robbie E., Chris Sabin and Suicide in an Ultimate X-scape Match (13:36): This match was to determine the No. 1 contender for Kazarian’s X Division title. There was nothing wrong with the action and there were some cool spots, but it wasn’t quite the spectacular spot-fest that I had anticipated. The setup was that competitors were eliminated by pinfall or submission until the final two remained, and then the winner was determined by who was the first to escape the cage. It came down to Max Buck and Kendrick. Kendrick was climbing the ropes when Buck pushed the referee into the cage and the impact caused Kendrick to lose his balance and fall. Buck then climbed out for the win. Here is the order of elimination: Robbie E. pinned Suicide; Red pinned Lethal; Sabian pinned Red; Max Buck pinned Sabian; Max Buck pinned Jeremy Buck; Kendrick pinned Robbie E; Max Buck escaped the cage.
Comments
I had personally been expecting more after three solid weeks of iMPACT, with the last go-home show being outstanding by TNA standards.
The bright point was that some of the performers really did a fine job, (I get the feeling, Mr. Eck, that the "botched" power bomb was supposed to play out like that--that's why it looked strange in the set-up, and Angle did a moonsault type landing and actually landed face-down, not top-of-the-head down--makes it more impressive, really)--especially the three-way, given that Sting is somewhat limited in his old age and the fact that they didn't have much time to work with. Having Anderson use the weapon without turning heel reinforces his character and is somewhat unique.
Low points were not as bad as usual with TNA, and I think you covered them well---though let's just start a chorus that Flair needs to stop wrestling, and especially to stop bleeding. He really stole a lot of the thunder from the Lethal Lockdown just by being there.
The other problem I had was Sting remaining champion. An RVD heel-turn and subsequent feud with Anderson for the title, at which point perhaps Morgan or Joe could be worked in makes more sense than leaving the title on a guy who can't even really wrestle anymore, and further is being set up in storyline as a defender of the chances of the younger talents in the face of Hogan's oppression. Seems he'd do better as Hogan's adversary in the same out-of-ring capacity as Hogan.
Also, as great as Angle was, that feud has been going on long enough without Jarrett scoring yet another victory. It's making Angle look weak at this point.
Although I may be the lone voice, I also am really disgusted that the low-rent Mexican-American crap is still being played. What's worse than mindlessly exploiting a sensitive real-life issue that probably will result in increased feelings of racism and bigotry in some people? I know, let's shut those mouthy Latinas up with a blond, blue-eyed white girl. The Aryan race to the rescue. (although at least it was a hot Aryan...) I am not politically correct by any means, but this is idiotic, and needlessly perpetuating negative stereotypes, and worse, playing off a fear of some people who are not well-informed in this country who really do not need any more ideas in their heads on the matter. Not that we should expect too much from a society that still stitches "Chief Wahoo" onto Cleveland baseball caps...but still---are we ever going to get smarter about how we deal with each other?
Not trying to be a crusader--it just seems tasteless, ill-advised and potentially dangerous.
Posted by: DumbSmark | April 18, 2011 6:15 PM
Pretty decent PPV I thought. I would've liked the Mickie James/Madison Rayne match to last longer, but Mickie clearly was in pain, so I'm not too upset. Also, this bugs me for some reason, but, it must be in Earl Hebner's contract that he gets to be the referee for every Knockouts match. It's annoying, Has anyone else noticed it?
Posted by: Andy R, | April 18, 2011 7:24 PM
Okay Kevin I may owe you an apology (my reply to your comments about Ric Flair lately). After reading the reports about Flair at last night's PPV I must admit I was embarrassed for him. If he's in bad enough shape he has to wear a wife beater & slacks why in blue hell is he in there for?! To get his bare rear end spanked and walk around nearly nude covered in his own blood?!!! What happened to his torn rotator cuff injury anyway? This is how TNA envisions "the greatest wrestler ever" or "God" as Flair calls himself these days? Better yet "they" think people want to see Hogan and Sting in 2011, so we know how "they" think already. They don't.
Never would I have imagined 3 years ago he would end up like this. I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this point.
Posted by: Joey S. | April 18, 2011 8:00 PM
Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett can still deliver high quality matches and are great performers. i thought Angle was dead for sure when he landed on his head, but he got up and proved he's still one of the best performers in the business. With TNA's limited schedule it seems Angle might be able to keep this up for years to come. It tripped me out when Angle used the RKO on Jarrett, since Orton uses the Angle Slam.
The thing I liked about most of the matches is that everybody had plenty of time to showcase their talents. Even those who lost, won in their own respective way. It looks like Daniels came back just so they could let him jump off that cage. It was impressive, but how long do thy let him stick around?
They must think Flair is funny or something, because they let him keep making a fool out of himself. Maybe it's Hogan and Bischoff's way of sticking it too him. It was funny when Bully Ray was swinging those kendo sticks like swords. TNA seems to fnd ways to push Robert Roode without actually pushing him. He was the last one in the cage, and when he got in, he took out everybody, and then it was him who scored the victory on the submission of Flair. Just take the reigns off Roode already and give him the push he deserves. And I knew AJ was going to show up. I guess in exchange for Daniels doing his stunts on top of the cage they let him have AJ's place in the match. Daniels is fearless and a fantastic performer.
I'm still not sure what TNA is doing with the Buck brothers. They're a good tag team with talent and charisma, but I don't believe for one second that Max Buck could beat Kazarian. I can't believe they let him beat Jay Lethal and Chris Saban. Maybe their goal is for the other Buck to cheat and help Max beat Kazarian and then they have some sort of co-champion thing, which is stupid in my opinion.
It's nice to see Sting going back to his old pre-crow Sting persona. I missed that, but I still have no desire to see Sting as a World Champion at this point in his career. And again, the same old RVD does nothing for me, turn him heel. And i like Mr. Anderson, but it's like RVD said, we've seen the character he's playing done a lot better than Anderson could ever play it. So the poor man's Stone Cold really does nothing for me either. Get some fresh faces in the main event please. It's good that Matt Morgan is done with Hernandez and seems headed back to competing for the World Title. Could yet another turn be in store for Morgan? Immortal still needs a main event caliber heel. If RVD won't turn, maybe Morgan will.
Too bad Madison didn't really get to do much with Mickie being injured, but I don't see how much she could have done in that cage any how without being hurt herself.
Posted by: Maurice B. | April 18, 2011 8:38 PM
I think the fact that the World Title match on a PPV was the second-shortest match on the show (with the other lasting 36 seconds and so barely qualifying as a match) tells you all you need to know about TNA - None of it ever seems to make much sense.
Posted by: Brucey | April 19, 2011 7:45 AM
How about Sting VS. Hulk Hogan for the TNA world title and if Hogan loses he and Bischoff have to leave TNA forever! Thats the match I want to see and I think it would get a good buy rate because all The Hogan haters would be tuning in just to see if Hogan and Bischoff leaves.That match did huge numbers for WCW and I would bet it would do the same for TNA
Posted by: sean lang | April 19, 2011 11:46 AM
hey great blog kevin i personably think you always dis rick flair because you are friends with the steiner brothers and dont want to be on theyre bad side lol any way i am doing some artwork featureing the tna superstars if you are interested thanks love the blog
Posted by: Rob Granito | April 19, 2011 3:45 PM
Kurt Angle is many things. One of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Slightly insane. Possible addict. Now we can add another to the list, a moron. As if complaining on twitter that Orton stole his move and then saying his account was hacked wasn't bad enough, he uses the RKO and goes on twitter to say he did it out of respect to Orton. Umm, okay. If he didn't post the tweets about Orton stealing the Angle Slam, that would mean he didn't care about it. So why would he use the RKO? Because he did care about it, he did post those tweets, and he's a moron. TNM- Total Nonstop Morons.
Posted by: Jay | April 19, 2011 3:47 PM
Kev, nice thoughts on Lockdown. I thought for sure Kurt Angle was dead after that spot. It looked like Kurt was going for the 'rana and JJ was attempting the powerbomb and they just got their wires crossed up. Incredibly frightening, and I was stunned when Kurt popped up like nothing had happened after not moving. Really good match, HOWEVER, I hate when guys don't win the match. It makes no sense. Just step on the ground, win the match and then go back in there and kick JJ's ass some more. You're right, after Kurt decided not to leave the cage, you knew JJ was going to win. I have no idea what this accomplishes except to extend a feud that has gone on forever already. The two of them have great chemistry and put on fantastic matches but the skits and feud itself have not been great. TNA is the only wrestling company that doesn't give the fans what they want (i.e. Angle destroys JJ and gets revenge on Karen). JJ has been putting himself over in TNA since it all started, but it's time to throttle it back. Kurt Angle is the biggest name in TNA and puts butts in seats. JJ never has and never will.
I thought the Lethal Lockdown match was ok. Good old-fashioned bloody cage beatdown. Ric Flair is sad at this point, and that image of him blading himself (right in front of the camera), his pants torn and his ass hanging out, is an image that will be burned into my retinas for years to come. Detracted slightly from my enjoyment of the match.
It is time for TNA to reshuffle the main event/World Title scene. Yet again, a world title match on a TNA PPV was a huge letdown. None of these guys are "technical wizards" at this point and if they are in fact setting up Sting-Hogan title feud, I think the IWC is going to lead a mob to burn the Impact Zone to the ground. Terrible idea...but this is TNA so who knows. Anderson is annoying and not very good in the ring and RVD has been coasting since Abyss "killed him." Time to put AJ, Daniels and Joe back into the main event, and also time to give Morgan another chance. I still think Morgan could be their "Goldberg or Brock-type guy" and AJ, Daniels and Joe rarely disappoint in PPV matches. If TNA truly does want to do Sting-Hogan AGAIN, then get the title off Sting and keep it separate from the main event/title scene.
If Mickie James was hurt, I don't understand why TNA would put her in a PPV title match, much less absolutely bury Madison Rayne at the same time. Mickie James just killed her with one arm. So yeah...Plus I don't like 30-second PPV title matches. Not good.
The last thing was that while I don't think Lockdown was nearly as bad as Victory Road, I'm not the biggest fan of gimmick PPVs. I don't like tag teams in a cage. I don't like 8-9 men in the cage at once, and I think it detracts from the matches and rivalries. I don't think it's a coincidence that the best match on the card was the 1-on-1 between Angle and Jarrett. The gimmick also worked well for Joe v Pope (even though I wasn't crazy about the lead-up). Maybe it's just me, but I feel like between all the bodies, weapons and the cage itself, it's hard to follow or enjoy what's going on. Next year perhaps TNA should do more 1-on-1 matches @Lockdown. And if they absolutely want to do a "Lethal Lockdown" type match limit it to 4-5.
Posted by: Jeremy W | April 19, 2011 6:45 PM
Rated Eck,
Anything in particular make you take the leap and order this TNA PPV? I know you've said that you don't normally get them.
RESPONSE FROM KE: Two things -- 1. I try to watch TNA's big PPVs such as Lockdown and Bound for Glory; 2. I had a nasty stomach virus and was stuck in the house with nothing to do.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 20, 2011 12:33 PM
Ya know, a wonder who these wrestlers pay off to have their weapons hidden under the ring. Sledgehammers, guitars, trash cans with stop signs in them, barbed wire bats, I mean, you have to have some seriously stealthy people hiding this stuff under the ring in plain view of everybody else. Either that, or these weapons really are important to the structural integrity of the rings.
Posted by: Cliff | April 20, 2011 3:15 PM
The Angle match was excellent, but man it looked a heck of a lot like the match he did last year at Lockdown against Ken Anderson. Many of the high spots of the match were the same and doing stuff like coming back in after Angle had unlocked the door and could have left. I thought I was watching a replay part of the time.
Posted by: Paul Cooper | April 22, 2011 10:40 AM