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.

TNA Lockdown 2014 Preview

TNA Lockdown is taking place this evening at the BankUnited Center in Miami, Florida. This is TNA's first PPV of the year and all of the matches will be in a steel cage. Let's look at the card.

Mr Anderson will take on Samuel Shaw in what could be an interesting match. While Mr Anderson has been protecting Christy Hemme from the attentions of Shaw, I can see it coming back to haunt him. Therefore, I'm going for Shaw to win here.
Predicted Winner: Samuel Shaw

Gunner will take on his former tag team partner James Storm in a last man standing match. Whilst I'm not the biggest fan of either of them, I do like last man standing matches; and I'm interested in seeing how Storm acts as a heel. It's a tough one to call, but I'm going for Storm to win here.
Predicted Winner: James Storm

Tigre Uno will make his debut as he takes on  Manik. This should be a fun match to watch. I will be very surprised if Manik wins the match; so Tigre Uno to win here.
Predicted Winner: Tigre Uno

Madison Rayne will defend her TNA Knockouts Championship from the challenge of  Gail Kim. These are both good competitors, so this should be a good match. I'm going for Rayne to win here.
Predicted Winner: Madison Rayne

We have an interpromotional 6-man tag match with The Great Muta, Sanada and Nakanoue from Wrestle-1 taking on the TNA team of Bad Influence and Chris Sabin. I'm looking forward to seeing The Great Muta for the first time, and I'm a big fan of Bad Influence. I'm going for the Wrestle-1 team to win here.
Predicted Winners: The Great Muta, Sanada and Nakanoue

Team MVP (MVP, The Wolves and Jeff Hardy) will take on Team Dixie (Bobby Roode, The BroMans and Austin Aries) in a lethal lockdown match for control of TNA's wrestling operations. I don't generally like lethal lockdown matches as I think the concept is dumb. However, the wrestlers involved should make it a decent match. Team MVP has to win here, otherwise the whole angle would be pointless.
Predicted Winner: Team MVP

The main event will see Samoa Joe challenge Magnus for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. I am struggling to see Magnus as a World Champion. However, this should be a good match and I'm going for Magnus to win here.
Predicted Winner: Magnus

Due to the TV deal that TNA have in the UK, I won't have the review until next weekend. Until then, I hope you guys enjoy the show.

TNA Lockdown 2012 Review (belatedly again!)

Even though it took place almost a week ago, I have now only managed to watch the event last night. Sorry about that, let’s start the review.

TNA Lockdown took place not from the Impact Wrestling Zone for once, but from the Nashville Municpal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. How will the event fare, and how many times will it become the Hulk Hogan Show? Let’s take a look.

The event starts with the Lethal Lockdown match (?) with Team Eric (Eric Bischoff, Bully Ray, Gunner, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian) against Team Garrett (Garrett “Future of the Business” Bischoff, AJ Styles, Rob Van Dam, Mr Anderson and Austin Aries (the best thing in TNA right now)). Apparently, the rules of a Lethal Lockdown match (if you give a fuck) are as follows: Two wrestlers start for the first 3 minutes, after that a wrestler enters in 2 minute intervals, and after the last wrestler enters, the top of the cage comes down with an assortment of weapons. Sounds simple enough; however, no one can gain a pin fall or submission until all the wrestlers are in the cage. I don’t get that but I don’t really care so let’s see how it goes.

The match starts with Garrett against Gunner with Garrett doing his usual array of basic wrestling moves. 

Gunner gets the advantage before Bully Ray enters the fray and they proceed to beat the crap out of Garrett 

then Austin Aries (the best thing in TNA right now) comes in to even the odds. Kazarian (sporting a new 

haircut) comes in and does an impressive gutwrench suplex on Aries. Nothing much really happens over the 

next few minutes as AJ Styles, followed by Christopher Daniels, Mr Anderson, Eric Bischoff and

RVD enter the cage and the top containing the weapons is lowered. They all start beating the

crap out of each other, including a nice spot where RVD almost kicked a steel chair through

Bully’s head. Eric and Garrett are the last two standing (oh, God!) with Eric beating his son

with a kendo stick. Eventually, Garrett gets up, hits his dad with a guitar and gets the win.

The match was ok with some nice spots, however, this is the first time that I saw a Lethal

Lockdown match and I thought it would be better if it didn’t end with one just one fall. As for

the Bischoffs, they really let this match down. Eric cowered for most of the match and Garrett

spent at least half of the match in a heap. The thing that I found amusing was that Mike

Tenay said that Garrett earned the respect of his team mates. Well, if you think getting

respect is spending the half the match in a heap then, yeah, I guess he did. If Garrett wants to

become a wrestler, fine. He just needs to earn it and spend some time down in OVW or the

independent scene to learn his craft instead of taking time away from more talented wrestlers.

Winners: Team Garrett                                                                       Predictions: 1 for 1

Next the Tag Team Championships are on the line as the Motor City Machine Guns

challenge Samoa Joe and Magnus. The match goes back and forth with Samoa and Magnus

eventually wearing Chris Sabin down. Sabin gets a rest bite after hitting Joe with a Tornado

DDT and gets the hot tag to Alex Shelley and the Machine Guns dominate for a bit. Joe hits a

sleeper on Sabin but Shelley hits the Sliced Bread on Magnus, forcing Joe to break up the

pin. Magnus hits a Scoop Slam Piledriver on Shelley followed by Joe dropping Sabin onto

Shelley. Then Joe and Magnus followed that with their snapmare/flying elbow finisher to get

the win. This was a good match which I enjoyed. However, the crowd was quite quiet for this

match.

Winners: Samoa Joe and Magnus                                                       Predictions: 2 for 2

Devon defended his Television Championship against Robbie E. The bodyguard Robbie T

 refused to leave the cage so Devon decided to get him out himself. After that, the match

wasn’t anything special and Devon got the win with a Spinebuster. Afterwards, Robbie T

beat the crap out of Devon.

Winner: Devon                                                                                    Predictions: 3 for 3

The Knockouts Championship was on the line as Velvet Sky finally gets her rematch against

Gail Kim. Gail gets to dominate early before trying to splash Velvet against the turnbuckle

and missing and going into the cage. Velvet gets back into it with a bulldog and Gail tries to

 escape the cage. However, Velvet stops that with a sunset flip into a powerbomb from the

 top turnbuckle which gets a 2 count. Velvet gets into an argument with Gail’s lackey

Madison Rayne. Gail tries to escape the cage and is stopped by Velvet with a roll up.

However, Gail reverses it into another roll up and gets a hold of Velvet’s tights to get the

victory. Like all Knockout matches, I enjoy them a lot more than what the WWE produce

 right now. It was an entertaining contest and I sense a rematch between Gail and Velvet.

Winner: Gail Kim                                                                                Predictions: 4 for 4

Next we have Ric Flair come out? Ok, don’t know why but let’s see where this goes.

After boasting about how awesome he is, he tells everyone that he’s not happy with Hulk

Hogan with the whole Bischoff affair. Hogan comes out (yay, I guess?) and Flair states that

Eric was put into an impossible position by getting involved in the Lethal Lockdown and it

should have been Flair instead. Flair must have a bad memory as, if I remember correctly,

 Eric volunteered to be in the match and I rather have Eric in the match than a 62-year old

legend who shouldn’t be wrestling. Flair gets decked by Hogan then goes on a massive hissy

fit while Hogan looks on. If this leads to a match between the two, I have three words for

that: FUCK. THAT. SHIT.

Right, let’s get back to the wrestling. The next match was between Crimson and Matt Morgan in what I think will be a very physical match. The best bit about this contest as this does actually need a steel cage to contain these two. Crimson tries to escape the cage at every opportunity but is stopped by Morgan who then sends Cimson flying into the cage. With Crimson down, Morgan was practically out of the cage but decides to beat the crap out of Crimson some more (in terms of my predictions, thank God!) Crimson seizes the second chance given to Morgan by dominating the match for a little while. Morgan hits Crimson with a massive clothesline and starts to make a comeback. Morgan misses with a big boot and this gives the opportunity for Crimson to climb up the cage. Morgan tries to stop him but is kicked off the cage onto the top rope, landing and trapping his leg between the middle and the bottom rope. Crimson gives Morgan a goodbye kiss and climbs over the cage to get the win and stay undefeated. This was a decent match and I hope that Crimson will use the fact that he has been undefeated for over a year to get a title opportunity.

Winner: Crimson                                                                                 Predictions: 5 for 5

The next match has the potential to be the match of the night as Kurt Angle takes on Jeff Hardy. Angle used the cage as a weapon as he kept on throwing Hardy into it, busting him open. The match goes back and forth and Hardy tries to climb up the cage. However, Angle stops him and does an Angle Slam from the top rope giving Angle a 2 count. Hardy tries again to climb the cage and Angle tries to stop him. Hardy pushes him off and then does a splash to get a 2 count. Hardy decides to go out of the cage door and Angle hits the Ankle Lock, which Hardy counters into his own Ankle Lock. Hardy then hits the Twist of Fate followed by two Swanton Bombs. However, Angle still kicks out (what is this, Wrestlemania?)  Angle hits an Angle Slam only Hardy to kick out at 2. Angle tries another Angle Slam but it’s reversed into an Angle Slam by Hardy. Hardy then hits a Swanton Bomb from the top of the cage to finally get the win. Even though there were some spots that I expected, like the Swanton from the top of the cage, I really enjoyed this match. I loved the reversals that Hardy did and this could potentially be a contender for LDW Match of the Year (no, I’m serious), especially since Angle is carrying a leg injury.

Winner: Jeff Hardy                                                                              Predictions: 6 for 6

The penultimate match is for the Knockouts Tag Team Championship as the newly married ODB and Eric Young (?) defend their titles against Sarita and Rosita. We get the usual shit here with it basically becoming ODB vs Sarita and Rosita in a handicap match. ODB dominates to begin with then Rosita and Sarita starts to dominate and flirt with Young, prompting Young to look away. Rosita and Sarita focus too much on flirting with Young, giving ODB the chance to make a comeback and hit Rosita with the Bam to get the win.

Winners: ODB and Eric Young                                                          Predictions: 7 for 7

                                                                                                            (fucking hell!)

The main event is for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship as home town boy James Storm challenges his former friend and Beer Money partner Bobby Roode. Right, I’ve got all my predictions right so far. All I need is for Storm to win and I will be a very happy man. Roode decides to take his time getting into the cage so Storm goes “Fuck that!” and attacks him outside the cage. Storm is completely dominant and spits beer into Roode’s eyes. Roode starts to get the upper hand and busts Storm open after getting his head rammed into the cage. Roode rolls Storm into the cage, the match officially starts five minutes after it actually did, and Roode continues to beat the crap out of Storm. Storm does a comeback and busts Roode open after getting sent into the cage. Storm hits the Eye of the Storm to get a 2 count and Roode hits the Double A Spinebuster to get a 2 count. Storm then hits a Codebreaker followed by a Backstabber to only get a 2 count. The match goes back and forth and Roode hits a Crossface. Later on, Roode climbs up the cage and almost gets over before Storm stops him and drags Roode back in. They then alternate bashing each other’s head into the cgae while on the top rope. Roode falls off, giving Storm the opportunity to climb out. However, he then decides to hit Roode to do a top rope Codebreaker instead followed by a Last Call, in which Roode pulls referee Brian Hebner in the way to take the hit. Roode starts to go out of the cage door then gets Senior Referee Earl Hebner to grab him a beer bottle (er...why would the referee do that?)  Roode smashes the beer bottle over Storm, wasting good beer in the process, and makes the pin with Earl counting. However, Storm kicks out, shocking Roode who then gets a Last Call from Storm. Storm hits the Last Call again. However, Roode was by the cage door at the time and he gets kicked out of the cage, onto the floor and gets the win. Storm, you dumb fuck! Thanks to you, I don’t get what every person who predicts wrestling PPVs wants, a prefect prediction. I was so close. Argh!! Ah well, never mind. Obviously, Storm is gutted over what happened and gets consoled by his family,

Winner: Bobby Roode                                                                         Predictions: 7 for 8

I quite enjoyed Lockdown. Some of the wrestling was really good and I thought the match between Hardy and Angle was one of the best matches of the year so far. There were a couple of matches that I didn’t really care for and I thought the Bischoffs undeservedly took the spotlight for the Lethal Lockdown match.

As for the end of the Roode/Storm match, I’m torn about that. I’m getting pissed off with every TNA PPV ending in a dusty finish as I think that it is making Roode look like a weak Champion. However, I’m slightly ok with the finish as it shows that you need luck to stay the Champion and Storm let his emotion get the best of him, otherwise he would have won the match ages ago. Overall, a good PPV from TNA.