For the past five years or so, Impact Wrestling has been the red-headed stepchild of professional wrestling promotions. Even when the promotion does things right, they can’t catch a break because they’ve done so much wrong previously. Since their weekly show, Impact Wrestling, moved to Pop TV, the promotion has been putting on much better shows. However, this month’s Lockdown event, in which every match is fought inside of a steel cage, is their first special event show since the move (TNA wisely doesn’t hold all of their monthly event shows on pay-per-view). Did TNA book a good enough show to lock down more potential viewers?
ERIC YOUNG & BRAM vs. BEER MONEY: I am all for slow burn feuds, but this one has been dragging on for quite a while. The fight started outside the ring, before the men even got inside of the six sides of steel. EY tried to deliver the pile driver several times to Bobby Roode. Roode, who knows Young all too well, was able to escape this each time. James Storm took a vicious DDT by Bram, which kept him down for quite a while. He and EY then locked the cage, playing numbers game against Storm’s teammate Roode. Roode held his own for a bit, enough to allow Storm to climb the cage and enter the match. During the match, all four men at some point went head first into the cage but there was no blood. This has always proven to be a problem for me in cage matches. Eventually, Beer Money was able to corner one of their opponents and deliver their finishing move, D.U.I. While they didn’t take it to the next level I had hoped, this was still a solid match that will, hopefully, push towards a resolution for this program soon. WINNERS: BEER MONEY
TIGRE UNO vs. TREVOR LEE (X-Division Championship): Under the tutelage of Gregory Shane Helms, the seemingly unassuming Lee, has become a force to be reckoned with in the X-Division. Tigre Uno tried to build momentum, but Lee wisely went to his technical game and kept the match grounded, preventing Tigre Uno from utilizing his high flying offense in the early minutes of the match. However, with the crowd behind him, Tigre fought on, eventually climbing to the top of the cage and delivering a mesmerizing cross body block from 30 feet up. This wasn’t enough to keep Lee down, as he kicked out of the pin. Before Tigre could even respond to Lee kicking out, Lee delivered his Fisherman’s Buster, the same move that won him the X-Division Championship. The match was a bit too short for my liking (no cage match should run less than ten minutes), but if these men can put on a match this good with only a short amount of screen time, I’ll stick around to see where this feud goes. WINNER: Trevor Lee
THE DOLLHOUSE vs. GAIL KIM & VELVET SKY: MADISON RAYNE was taken out by the Dollhouse before the match, giving the Dollhouse the numbers advantage. Jade and Gail Kim started the match off. Jade seemed to be able to go strike for strike with the technically proficient Kim. Once Marti Bell entered the match, Kim tried her best to hold the line against the superior numbers. Velvet Sky eventually came in to even the odds and built momentum for their team. Rebel came into the ring and the three-to-two advantage, on top of the weapons hung around the cage, put Sky and Kim on the defensive. Earlier in the program, Maria Kanellis offered her assistance to Kim and Sky. But during the match, she came down to the ring, but changed her mind, leaving Kim and Sky to fend for themselves. But the two women were far from helpless, as they delivered a double flap jack to Jade from the top rope. They also wailed on Jade with kendo sticks. But Marti came back with repeated shots from a metal cookie sheet. Jade was able to corner Kim and deliver a package piledriver to Kim on top of a steel chair. I’ve not seen a woman’s match that brutal, on American television, in quite some time. WINNERS: The Dollhouse
ELI DRAKE vs. ODARG: I will refrain from voicing my displeasure at this angle with Grado making a complete mockery out of the entire concept of Feast or Fired. Drake commenced to deliver a hell of a beat down to Odarg for at least eight minutes. Any attempts by Odarg to escape the cage were slapstick comedy at its worst. Drake delivered a suplex, launching Odarg into the steel cage. Drake tried to escape, but Odarg was able to snatch Drake off of the wall of the cage at the last second. Drake then made a B-line for the door of the cage, getting an assist from the outside by his teammate Jesse Godderz. But Odarg held on so tightly that Drake had a wardrobe malfunction and nearly lost his tights. After a quick recovery, Odarg scaled the cage and climbed down the outside to gain the victory, despite his mask (which is supposed to be concealing his identity) coming off. Though he won the match, the reveal cost him his job. WINNER: ODARG
ETHAN CARTER III vs. MATT HARDY (TNA World Championship): One of the more red hot feuds in all of wrestling right now, both men stepped up the intensity in this match. Hardy had his hired enforcer and former friend of Carter’s, Tyrus, hurl weapons into the cage for Hardy to use. He delivered several chair shots to Carter. However, he set up the chair in the corner, but Carter launched him head first into the chair. Both men countered each other several times because of how well they know each other. Matt Hardy finally lucked out, delivering the side effect onto a steel chair. This was not enough to keep Carter down. Carter delivered a T-K-3 to Hardy, but Hardy kicked out of the pin fall. Matt unlocked the cage to allow Tyrus in. Carter unleashed on his former friend. The two on one advantage caught up to Carter and he got pummeled for a few minutes. Tyrus attempted to use the chain to lock up Carter, but Carter ended up locking him up and wailed on Tyrus with a steel chair. Hardy delivered his finisher, the Twist of Fate, but Carter kicked out. Hardy attempted to scale the cage, but Carter pulled him off with a Russian Leg Sweep. Hardy delivered a low blow and then took it to the next level, by sticking Carter’s head into an unfolded steel chair and delivering a Twist of Fate. Carter somehow kicked out of that. Both men played to the crowd well. Hardy’s wife, Reby Sky attempted to once again pass a hammer to her husband in the middle of a match. However, Rockstar Spud, EC3’s friend, took the hammer from her. But he then slammed the door on Carter’s head, betraying his compatriot. This match was just what was needed to take this feud to that next level. Hopefully, they can ride this heat all the way to TNA’s premiere pay-per-view event, Bound For Glory. WINNER: Matt Hardy
While a few of these matches were not the caliber of what a pay-per-view level match should be, this Lockdown event was still entertaining and did what was necessary to push several storylines forward. What were your thoughts on TNA: Lockdown?
