April 17th, 2011
Opening Match: Chris Sabin vs. Robbie E. vs. Jeremy Buck vs. Max Buck vs. Amazing Red vs. Jay Lethal vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Suicide
This match will be contested under elimination rules until the final two participants. Then the winner and #1 contender for the X Division Title will be the first person to escape the cage. Robbie and Suicide begin brawling immediately. Suicide dropkicks him into the corner and bulldogs Max into the middle turnbuckle. Generation Me have a confrontation before Max tags out. Jeremy snaps off a headscissors on Lethal, who responds with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Lethal follows with the Lethal Combination. Robbie hits sole food on Suicide to eliminate him out of nowhere. Literally no crowd reaction. Sabin and Lethal take turns punching Robbie and throw him into the cage wall. They proceed to have a nice exchange that finally elicits a crowd reaction. Red connects with a missile dropkick on Sabin and blocks a handspring elbow from Lethal. Red hits a code red on Lethal to eliminate him. Sabin catches Red with the Cradle Shock and adds a clothesline to send him packing. Sabin hangs Max in a tree of woe and connects with a dropkick. Max responds with a springboard ace crusher on Sabin for a flat elimination. Kendrick splashes Robbie into the cage wall. Max attempts a moonsault but finds knees. Jeremy throws him into the cage wall repeatedly and connects with an enzuigiri. Max small packages Jeremy to eliminate him. Robbie and Max form an alliance and work over Kendrick. They lawn dart him into the cage wall. Kendrick fights back with a series of strikes. He connects with a thrust kick on Robbie to eliminate him. Our final two participants are Max and Kendrick. They stop each other from climbing the cage. Max hits a bucklebomb and throws Kendrick into the cage wall. Kendrick wins an exchange on the top rope and begins to climb, but Max uses the referee to make him fall to the canvas. Max climbs out of the cage for the win at 13:35. This match suffered from way too many wrestlers being involved. Most of the eliminations came off as flat and the crowd didn’t seem too invested based on their reactions. The constant eliminations allowed for very little structure and I think that TNA missed an opportunity to give fans a preview on pay per view of what Generation Me could do as opponents. **¼
Eric Bischoff makes his way to the ring. He sarcastically thanks the rather large crowd for coming tonight. He calls Fortune a distraction and says that Immortal will take care of them tonight. A few “we want wrestling” chants. Hulk Hogan’s vision of regaining the TNA World Title will come true.
Match #2: Shannon Moore and Jesse Neal vs. Doug Williams and Brutus Magnus vs. Eric Young and Orlando Jordan vs. Scott Steiner and Crimson
The winners will become the #1 contenders for the TNA World Tag Team Titles. Young starts the match by climbing the cage, clearly confusing the rules. Comedy! Neal and Young trade armdrags and find themselves at a stalemate. Moore tags in and shows some disrespect. Jordan fights off the British Invasion with the tired, obvious humor with Jordan being displayed. Magnus catches Neal with a clothesline and the British Invasion work him over. He’s able to make the tag to Crimson, who hits a neckbreaker on Magnus. They both connect with clotheslines and fall to the canvas. Steiner enters the match and hits a belly to belly suplex on Williams. He blocks a charge from Magnus and adds another suplex. Moore blind tags in as Steiner hits a superplex on Williams. They re-do the spot as Steiner didn’t notice the blind tag the first time. Young takes off his shorts to reveal leopard tights. He gets caught by a flying uppercut from Williams. Moore lands a moonsault onto Williams. Everyone starts hitting moves. Young connects with a missile dropkick on Steiner. He climbs the cage and exits the ring. Moore hits the Mooregasm on Williams for the victory at 8:50. The action was pretty sloppy and this match did absolutely nothing to wake up the crowd. It also doesn’t help that I don’t find any comedy relating to Young or Jordan even remotely funny. This contest was probably better suited for Impact. *½
Match #3: TNA Knockouts Title: Madison Rayne © vs. Mickie James
Mickie has put her hair on the line as well. Mickie repeatedly throws Rayne into the cage wall and hits a DDT to become the new TNA Knockouts Champion at 0:36. Mickie was obviously working injured, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Knockouts division is a joke.
Match #4: D’Angelo Dinero vs. Samoa Joe
Dinero hits a suplex but walks into a clothesline. Joe connects with a series of punches and a corner gamenguiri. They battle on the top rope and Dinero gets crotched. Joe yakuza kicks him to the canvas. Dinero uses the referee to avoid a facewash kick and takes control. Joe fights back with a powerslam and wins a slap exchange. He hits a senton and comes off the middle rope with a leg lariat. Joe follows with the Muscle Buster for a nearfall. Dinero tries to climb the cage but instead decides on a flying elbow drop. Joe blocks the DDE and hits another Muscle Buster. Joe locks in a rear naked choke for the win at 10:23. Perfectly acceptable given its duration and place on the card. While this feud as a whole has been incredibly underwhelming, Joe looked good in what was hopefully the final match between these two. **½
Match #5: Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan
Morgan wins a punch exchange and lays in repeated elbow strikes in the corner. He hits a side slam and tries to go up top, but one of Hernandez’s cronies interferes. Hernandez splashes Morgan into the cage wall and takes control. He keeps whistling for some strange reason. Morgan comes back with a series of clotheslines and throws Hernandez into the cage walls. He hits a back suplex but Hernandez responds with a shoulder tackle. Hernandez comes off the top rope but Morgan catches him with the Carbon Footprint for the victory at 8:13. These two failed to improve upon their cage match from July of last year. If their matches aren’t any better since the first time they feuded, why are they feuding with each other again? *½
Sarita and Rosita get into a confrontation with Velvet Sky after the match.
Match #6: 2 out of 3 Falls: Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle
This match is being contested under “Ultra Male” rules. Okay, I’ll explain. The first fall can only be won by submission, the second by pin, and the third by escape. Unnecessary? Sure! Welcome to TNA. Karen is immediately ejected from ringside. Angle begins with a side headlock. Feel the hatred. Jarrett applies a figure four. While in the hold, Angle’s shoulders touch the mat and the referee counts a pin attempt…even though the first fall can only be won by submission. Angle hits an overhead suplex but finds himself in a rear naked choke. He’s able to escape and synch in an ankle lock. Jarrett powers out and connects with an enzuigiri. Angle turns a cross armbreaker into an ankle lock to win the first fall. In five minutes. Jarrett throws Angle into the cage wall and hits the Stroke for a nearfall. They exchange punches and Angle hits a belly to belly suplex. Jarrett sneaks in a low blow to escape rolling german suplexes. Angle recovers with the Angle Slam for a two count. They battle up top and Angle finds success with a superplex. He adds an ace crusher, sending a message to Randy Orton after their recent Twitter feud. Jarrett reverses the Angle Slam into a rollup to win the second fall. We are tied at 1-1. Jarrett catapults Angle into the cage wall. Angle answers with rolling german suplexes. He stops himself from escaping so he can inflict more punishment. Jarrett’s forehead meets the cage wall, busting him open. They battle up top and Jarrett botches a powerbomb, almost killing Angle. Jarrett tries to escape but Angle sends him back to the canvas with an Angle Slam. Angle tries to climb but Gunner runs out to stop him. Instead, Angle attempts a moonsault from the top of the cage but overshoots Jarrett. Scott Steiner chases Gunner to the back. Angle tries to escape through the door but Karen runs out and sprays something into his eyes. He accidentally clotheslines the referee. Jarrett tries to escape but finds himself in an ankle lock. Karen tosses him a guitar, which he uses to hit Angle. Jarrett escapes through the door for the win at 22:35. This match managed to showcase everything that is wrong with TNA, mainly how the wacky stipulations more often than not hold back the wrestlers. The referee didn’t even understand the stipulations, as he was counting pin attempts during the “submission only” fall. Additionally, Angle looked like a complete goof in this match. His hatred for Jarrett ran so deep that he refused to escape during the third fall. However, a few minutes earlier, he was trying to pin Jarrett during the second fall and win the match. The finish was way too overbooked and Angle is going to get severely hurt if he doesn’t lay off the crazy stunts. I’m probably in the minority, but I felt as though this match was a major disappointment. **½
Match #7: TNA World Title: Sting © vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Rob Van Dam
Sting and RVD team up to work over Anderson early on. RVD connects with a spin kick to break up a Scorpion Deathlock. He follows with a standing moonsault. Anderson low bridges him to send him into the cage wall. Sting applies a double Scorpion Deathlock but his opponents are able to reach the bottom rope. Anderson hits a neckbreaker on RVD along with a double Mic Check. RVD connects with a springboard thrust kick on Anderson and lands the Five Star Frog Splash. After a three-way spot, all three men fall to the canvas. Hulk Hogan makes his way to ringside with a steel pipe. He gives the pipe to RVD, who throws it down. Anderson grabs the pipe and lays out RVD. Sting hits the Scorpion Deathdrop on Anderson to retain his title at 7:54. It’s not a good sign when the world title match is one of the worst offerings on the pay per view, but at least this wasn’t the main event. They seem to be building toward a match between Sting and Hogan. While that’s fine, I’m not looking forward to any of Sting’s future title defenses. *
Match #8: Lethal Lockdown: Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, James Storm, and Robert Roode vs. Ric Flair, Matt Hardy, Abyss, and Bully Ray
Kazarian and Abyss start. Abyss connects with a boot. Kazarian jumps off the top rope and hurricanranas Abyss. He dropkicks Abyss into the cage wall as Hardy enters the match. Kazarian hits a springboard leg drop on Hardy but finds himself in the Ice Pick. Hardy adds the Side Effect and Abyss punches Kazarian. Daniels enters next to save his teammate. He lands the BME on Abyss and stomps Hardy out of the corner. Fortune build some momentum until Flair enters the cage. He low blows Daniels and chops Kazarian in the corner. Storm enters next and hits a lungblower on Abyss. He follows with a backcracker on Hardy and breaks his beer bottle over Flair’s head. Of course Flair is busted open. Ray enters as the last participant for Immortal. He swings the momentum back in his team’s favor. Roode is the final entrant and cleans house as the cage ceiling lowers. Fortune immediately take control with their newfound weapons. Abyss gets powered through the cage door. Hardy and Daniels climb to the ceiling where a scary back body drop happens. Daniels was pretty close to unintentionally falling off the ceiling. Hardy hits the Twist of Fate on the ceiling. In the ring, Flair is a bloody mess. Hardy apparently falls climbing down the cage. Storm hits an inverted DDT on Ray while Roode lays out Flair with a spinebuster. Daniels rises to his feet and lands a crossbody off the ceiling onto Abyss and Hardy on the floor. Roode applies a figure four on Flair but Ray breaks it up with a garbage can shot. Ray goes crazy with a kendo stick at Flair’s command. Ray threatens to hit Daniels again, saying “this is for your friend AJ.” Suddenly, AJ Styles’ music hits and he runs into the cage. Styles starts brawling with Ray and throws him into the cage wall. He connects with the pele kick. Flair goes to attack Styles but Beer Money take care of him. Roode applies a fujiwara armbar on Flair to win Lethal Lockdown at 22:54. I expected a somewhat energetic brawl and that’s what I received for the most part. The portion before the ceiling lowered was fairly uninspired and the action wasn’t exciting the live crowd either. The sheer number of weapon shots after the ceiling lowered was excessive and Flair bleeding all over the place wasn’t a pretty sight. Then Daniels had his dive off the ceiling and came across as one of the focal points of this match, which was a nice touch. The finish was also satisfying, which is the biggest compliment that I can give this match. Hopefully TNA uses the little momentum they generated here to make Styles’ return feel special in the coming weeks on Impact. At the end of the day, I felt that my realistic expectations were met. **¾
Overall: Lockdown 2011 was just like any other TNA pay per view. As usual, the card had a few bright spots on paper but then TNA’s booking kicked in. Others probably enjoyed this show more than me but I don’t think that I’m being unfair. TNA is mishandling the X Division and Knockouts division, creating an uninspired world title picture with Sting as champion, and continuing to allow its booking to restrict match quality. Additionally, there’s absolutely no match on this show that’s worth going out of your way to watch and I stand firm on my feelings toward the Angle/Jarrett encounter. Recommendation to avoid.