TNA Lockdown 2014

The first TNA Pay-Per-View of the year, Lockdown, took place on Sunday 9^th March at the BankUnited Center in Miami, Florida. With every match in a steel cage, what will the landscape of TNA be like after this event. Let's take a look.

The first match is the interpromotional tag team match with Bad Influence and Chris Sabin taking on the Wrestle-1 team of Sandana, Yasu and The Great Muta. I was quite looking forward to this as I love Bad Influence and this is the first time that I will get to see The Great Muta. During the match, Sabin and Bad Influence start to wear down Yasu. They get a near fall when they triple dropkick Yasu then Kazarian misses a top rope legdrop. Sanada gets tagged in and later on, Great Muta comes in and dragon screws all of his opponents. Great Muta then spews green mist into Kazarian, which I assume is legal, hits a shining wizard on Daniels followed by a moonsault by Sanada to get his team the victory. I thought this was an enjoyable match and a fun way to start the Pay-Per-View.

Winners: Sanada, Yasu and The Great Muta

Predictions: 1 for 1

Next is the match between Samuel Shaw and Mr Anderson in which the only way to win is to escape the cage. Shaw is not happy that the object of his affection, Christy Hemme, is not at ringside and demands that he will jump off the cage if she doesn't come out. Mr Anderson comes out and suggests that he will help out Shaw after he beats the crap out of him. After a couple of minutes, Christy Hemme comes out and cheers on Mr Anderson. Sahw gets a couple of chances to climb out of the cage but Anderson is able to stop that from happening. Shaw tries to leave through the cage door but Anderson pushes him into the door, knocking down the referee. Anderson then hits the Mic Check then another one, bouncing Shaw's head off the turnbuckle. Anderson then climbs the cage. Hemme is cheering him on next to the hole in the cage for the camera and Shaw grabs her arm and pulls into the cage. Anderson has to get back into the cage to rescue Hemme and hits a few right hands to Shaw. Anderson leads Hemme to safety but is caught by a standing kata gatame by Shaw. Shaw then leaves the cage and the referee had conveniently recovered enough to see Sahw leave and declare him the winner. The match, whilst nowhere near a technical masterpiece, did tell an interesting story. I think that this could be a good character for Shaw as long as it doesn't become tasteless.

Winner: Samuel Shaw

Predictions: 2 for 2

We now get Ethan Carter III coming out. He was scheduled to face Kurt Angle but he injured him on the previous Impact. Therefore, EC3 issues an open challenge, which is accepted by a returning Bobby Lashley. EC3 refuses because Lashley does not have a contract. Lashley responds by hitting a running powerslam followed by a spear, killing EC3. I liked this segment. Whilst I'm not that bothered by Lashley, I do love EC3 and what he is doing in TNA. I'm also interested to see whether they will do a feud between Carter and Lashley and how it would develop.

We now get a match between Manik and Tigre Uno. We get a lot of high risk, fast pace wrestling which the crowd appreciates. Tigre Uno goes flying into the side of the cage, giving Manik the chance to hit a vertical suplex followed by a back suplex. Manik then applies a surfboard and later on, a sit out powerbomb for 2. Tigre Uno gets back into it and after hitting a sabretooth splash, gets the win. This was a really fun match to watch and I can't wait to see what Tigre does in the company

Winner: Tigre Uno

Predictions: 3 for 3

Next is a last man standing match between James Storm and Gunner. They immediately start brawling up the aisle and around the ring. Storm slams the door onto Gunner's head and the match offically starts. Storm starts choking Gunner with the tag team ropes for a little while before Storm starts bouncing his head off the turnbuckle. Gunner does make a comeback briefly and hits Storm in the head with a bit of the steel steps, which gets a 7 count. Storm hits a code breaker then throws Gunner head first into a steel chair in the corner, which gets a count of 8. Storm then attacks Gunner with the chair, but Gunner keeps Storm down for a while with a airplane spin onto the chair followed by a rock bottom. Gunner jumps from the top rope but Storm throws the chair into his head, which gets a count of 8. Storm tries to powerbomb Gunner onto 2 chairs but he is unable to do so. They fight on top the ropes, slamming each other's head into the cage, before Gunner superplexes Storm onto the steel chairs. Both men are down and Gunner uses a chair to get up before the count of ten to get the win. I generally like last man standing matches, although I did find it weird it being in a cage. Despite that, it was an enjoyable match and you really saw in the story that they told, how much they don't like each other.

Winner: Gunner

Predictions: 3 for 4

We now get the Knockouts Championship match with Gail Kim challenging Madison Rayne. Kim tries to get out of the cage door early on but is stopped by Rayne. Kim does get the momentum after Rayne misses a crossbody. Kim does a running corner clothesline as part of her offence. However, she misses an avalanche splash and crashes into the cage. This gives Rayne the chance to make a comeback. Kim almost gets out of the cage door but is dragged back in by Rayne. They both climb the cage and Kim tries the Eat Defeat. However, Rayne pulls her off then does a spear off the top rope to get the win and Rayne retains her Knockouts Championship. This was a fun match and once again, reinforces how good women's wrestling can be. I wish WWE would do things like this in their Divas Division but I don't think they will.

Winner: Madison Rayne

Predictions: 4 for 5

The second Championship match is Samoa Joe challenging Magnus for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. The match is under “Joe's Rules”, which means you can only win by tap out, knock out or submission.  After a little back and forth, Joe starts bouncing Magnus off the cage numerous times, busting him open. Magnus gets back into it and busts Joe open by doing what Joe did to him. Magnus applies a figure four but Joe reverses the pressure. Magnus keeps on the pressure on Joe with moves such as a camel clutch and a sleeper. Samoa Joe gets back into it and hits a muscle buster followed a rear naked choke. It looks like Joe is going to win here but a hand suddenly comes out of the mat and drags Joe through the hole. Joe manages to get out of the hole and chokes Magnus in the corner. Abyss appears out of the hole and hits Joe with Janice then hits the Black Hole Slam. Magnus then applies Joe's choke hold to get the win. I was enjoying the match but I didn't think it needed to have Abyss enter through a hole in the mat, especially since we still have the Lethal Lockdown match to come.

Winner: Magnus

Predictions: 6 for 7

The main event is a Lethal Lockdown match to determine who has control of the company's wrestling operations. It's Team Dixie (Bobby Roode, The BroMans and Austin Aries) taking on Team MVP (MVP and The American Wolves).  Austin Aries and MVP start off the match and they have a good match before Robbie E enters the fray. Then the rest of the wrestlers came in the following order: Eddie Edwards, Jesse Godderz, Davie Richards and Bobby Roode. Even though it's a 4-on-3 match, we get another ten count, introducing another wrestler, which is Willow(?) Willow appears on top of the cage and splashes all of Team Dixie. The top of the cage comes down and Dixie Carter comes out and announces that the special guest referee, and her insurance policy, is Bully Ray. Team Dixie use the weapons available to decimate Team MVP. Willow sends Aries flying into the cage and later on, Aries hits a brainbuster on Edwards onto a chair. Aries misses a 450 splash and he gets hit with a twist of fate followed by a swanton bomb. Bobby Roode just breaks up the count. Roode sets up a table and is about to send MVP through it when Bully Ray stands in the way. Roode and Bully have an argument and Bully hits a rock bottom on Roode. MVP then kicks Roode in the head to get the win by pinfall. This means that MVP have control of the wrestling operations of TNA. Understandably, Dixie is apoplectic over what just happened. Bully then powerbombs Roode through the table.

I thought this match was pretty good. However, I hate Lethal Lockdown matches because I find it really stupid that you can't win the match until all the wrestlers enter the cage and it feels that it is a waste of time. It also felt a bit overbooked to me with so much going on.

Winners: Team MVP

Predictions: 7 for 8

I thought that Lockdown was a decent event. As I always do, I do enjoy the wrestling that they do in TNA. I sometimes don't really understand the reason behind their booking. I was surprised that the Lethal Lockdown match was the main event but it makes sense because the control of the company is more important than a World Heavyweight Championship match. With MVP now in control of the company, it will be interesting to see where they go from where. Hopefully, it will be for the better.