TNA-Lockdown 2011

Xscape Match: Amazing Red vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Chris Sabin vs. Jay Lethal vs. Suicide vs. Jeremy Buck vs. Max Buck vs. Robbie E - There were only two legal men allowed in the ring at a time & after the eliminations, the final two men battle with the winner being the one who's able to do escape the cage. The only real story told here was the continued problems between the former members of Generation Me as Max kept avoiding Jeremy throughout the match until Jeremy finally got his hands on him & proceeded to pound on him & ram him into the cage. Unlike the previous Xscape matches, this was a basic match without any real heavy or big spots you would expect with the ending involving the referee coming off very flat.

Right around here was an Eric Bischoff promo that was pointless & just came off as "Well, here's how I'll get my camera time for the night." Didn't TNA learn anything from WrestleMania earlier in the month, too much talking on a PPV isn't a good thing.

Scott Steiner & Crimson vs. Eric Young & Orlando Jordan vs. Ink Inc. vs. British Invasion - Just came off like the previous match where they tried to do some stuff but again, it just came off uneventful with the only things major things happening being the issues continuing between Shannon Moore's disrespectful attitude (including constantly mocking Scott Steiner) conflicting with Jesse Neal while Eric Young was being his usual goofy self getting the rules of the match confused. It's watchable as Steiner had the standout performance here.

Knockouts Champion Madison Rayne vs. Mickie James - Mickie James put her hair on the line here just to get another shot at the Knockouts Championship. Unfortunately Mickie came into the match with a separated shoulder so this was a short squash (Madison's entrance took longer than the actual match) but I'll give credit in that Madison took some good bumps on the cage & with the DDT to really sell the beating.

Samoa Joe vs. D'Angelo Dinero - It should be noted before I get started that they kept doing this weird camera angle throughout the match as they kept showing a camera running through the crowd showing a wide shot of the cage which got very annoying. This was subtitled "Submission vs. Street" which I think implied that Joe could only win by submission as they never really made it clear what the meaning behind that was. They traded momentum throughout the match with various moves like Pope's leg sweep/clothesline combination & later even delivering Chris Jericho's "Codebreaker", Joe's strong strikes & snap powerslam & later doing a unique leg lariat that looked like a legdrop from a standing position, and both men trading slaps. Whenever things got too difficult for Pope, he tried to run away & escape the cage only for Joe to "make an ass" of him before applying the Kokina Clutch for the win. I personally think this feud (storyline wise) has done more to hurt than help both men but the match itself was very good with both men having great chemistry & the first standout match of the night.

Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez - This started out as a fight from the start as both men started slugging it out. Mexican America was out at ringside & was able to get involved with Anarcha at one point grabbing Hernandez's leg through the camera hole in the cage allowing Hernandez to get the advantage. The cage did come into play several times as Hernandez delivered his shoulderblock into the cage while also grinding Morgan's head into the cage while later Morgan got his receipt by ramming Hernandez into the cage. For those who remember their previous cage match at last year's Victory Road, they played out the same story here except the roles were reversed in that Hernandez was more focused on showing off & embarrassing Morgan instead of winning the match which came back to haunt him in the end but it came off better here than it did in their previous cage match as this was the best match possible we were going to get out of these two. After the match, keep watching as we get a special bonus "catfight" between Sarita, Rosita, and another knockout that had unfinished business with them.

Ultra Male Rules Match: Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett - Ultra Male Rules is just another variation of the "3 Degrees Of Pain" match or WWE's "3 Stages Of Hell" in that it's a "2 out of 3 falls" match with each fall having a special stipulation. Karen Angle was removed from ringside before the match started while Kurt Angle didn't do his usual entrance (coming up from the ground & posing for pyro) to put over how serious this match was. The first fall was submission only which saw both men exchange submissions & counters like Jarrett doing a sleeper/body scissors combination along with an attempted figure four & armbar that Angle was able to reverse while Angle kept attempting the anklelock for Jarrett to keep finding a way to escape. Pinfalls only was the second fall as Angle was dominate here for the most part including delivering one hell of a superplex that had his just toss Jarrett from the top rope along with him giving a response to his "twitter war" over what Randy Orton did at WrestleMania with the only thing bad to say is that finish coming off as very confusing for everyone. The final fall had the key left in the cage door so that was another way of being able to escape. Angle made it clear throughout the match that his intentions were to punish & pay Jarrett back for everything instead of just winning the match as he had chances to leave the cage only to not do it & cause Jarrett to be on the receiving end of 5 straight german suplexes, grinding his head into the cage making him bleed. Angle took punishment here too as he was on the receiving end of a powerbomb off the top rope onto his neck that should have killed him only to come back right away with giving Jarrett an Angle Slam off the top rope only to attempt a moonsault off the top rope that missed Jarrett completely. We saw appearances from Gunner, Steiner, and Karen Angle towards the end while telling the story of Kurt just refusing to go down. All I can say about this match is that this was very physical & the match of the night for me as this defined the phrase "they left it all in the ring."

TNA Champion Sting vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Rob Van Dam - Due to Anderson's attitude towards both men leading up to & at the start this match, he was the "odd man out" as both Sting & RVD took turns beating him up. This had some good moments between all three men such as Sting applying a double scorpion deathlock to both men, Anderson's double mic check, and Sting doing a scorpion deathdrop on RVD while having a double clothesline with Anderson. The bigger story here was the appearance of Hulk Hogan with a pipe trying to help RVD win the championship thinking he was going to join Immortal only for RVD to say make his decision, Mr. Anderson trying to take advantage of the situation, and Sting being able to retain his title. The match was decent & had some nice moments but it was more about the story with Hogan & "what would RVD do?" than anything else.

Lethal Lockdown - Fortune vs. Immortal: Daniels, Kazarian, Beer Money vs. Bully Ray, Abyss, Matt Hardy, Ric Flair - For those who haven't seen a Lethal Lockdown match, it's held under the same rules which the old WCW/NWA match of War Games where under. One man from each team starts the match and after a period of time, another member from one team (which has always been the heel team for those trivia buffs) enters and after each time period, the teams alternate sending members in. Once all team members enter the cage, the roof containing all the weapons is lowered onto the cage and the only way to win is by pinfall or submission.
As usual with a Lethal Lockdown match, this had it's share of moments like Bully Ray living up to his name as you could hear him trash talking Immortal non-stop while him & Matt Hardy kept smashing the cage into Kaz's face from the outside, James Storm destroying a beer bottle over Flair's head causing him to have a "crimson mask" while also getting the pants beat off his (literally), Fortune being dominate with the weapons, Abyss getting knocked out of the cage, Daniels almost falling off the side of the cage before diving off, Bully Ray nailing everyone in sight with stiff kendo stick shots, and the return of The Phenomenal One. This was what it intended to be...a war with Fortune coming off as strong dominating babyfaces. Great match.

It should be noted that Brother Devon & Anarcha of Hernandez's "Mexican America" group faced off in the pre-show match. The show started off slow but picked up over time & delivered a great (but not perfect) quality show overall as Lockdown usually is as we got some of the best performances from the ongoing feuds (Joe/Pope, Fortune/Immortal, Angle/Jarrett, Morgan/Hernandez) with each match getting a decent amount of time (minus the Knockouts due to Mickie's injury) so this is an event that's worth checking out for a viewing.

It's TNA's annual all steel cage PPV, their most violent show of the year, Lockdown.

-During the preshow Christy Hemme and Jeremy Borash run down the card and we see video packages hyping the big ones.

Preshow Match:

-Brother Devon vs. Anarcia: I'm honestly not sure how his name is spelled but Devon takes on the newest member of the Mexican/American stable. They start outside the cage and soon after get inside the steel and Anarcia goes to work on Devon trying to choke him out. Devon makes his comeback hitting a nice sideslam and a diving clothesline for 2. Devon hits a modified chokeslam/spinebuster for the win in about 5 minutes. 5/10.The post match brawl was better than the match, with Devon hitting a nice suplex on the ramp, then after prompting from the crowd he hits one more suplex.

-Nice opening video showing the history of Lockdown's best matches/feuds.

-From Cincinnati, Ohio we are live, with a decent sized crowd from the looks of it and of course open with the X-Division.

-Number 1 Contender X-Division Escape Match: Chris Sabin vs. Robbie E vs. Jeremy Buck vs. Max Buck vs. Amazing Red vs. Jay Lethal vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Suicide: As usual the X-Division opens a TNA PPV and the action starts right away. The rules, its pin or submission until the final 2 are left, then its the first person to escape is the winner. Nice early display by Jeremy Buck on Jay Lethal, hitting a great springboard head scissors. Robbie E tags in and quickly eliminates Suicide with a weird type of arm stunner. Loved the rapid fire moves between Lethal and Sabin then Lethal and Red. Lethal gets the Code Red and is eliminated. Sabin hits a massive running clothesline and Red is gone. Max Buck hits a springboard blockbuster like move and Sabin is eliminated. The energy kinda seems to leave the crowd as most of the favorites are gone at this point. Nice exchange between the Buck Brothers, that ends with Max rolling up Jeremy for the pin. Robbie and Max start hammering Kendrick even hitting a double team throw into the cage. Kendrick comes back hitting both men into the cage. Kendrick gets a thrust kick on Robbie for the pin. Now its escape rules between Max and Kendrick and after some good shots Max escapes for the win. 7/10.

-Eric Bischoff comes out to a pretty big pop from the crowd. Its classic heel Bischoff, too bad his promo kinda takes some of the crowd energy away, good promo just went on too long.

-Christy Hemme is backstage with Crimson and Scott Steiner, Crimson seems like he has potential, Steiner just mumbles though he does take a little shot at the Kobe/gay slur story that was going on at the time.

-Four Way Tag Team Match: Ink Inc. vs. The British Invasion vs. Eric Young & Orlando Jordan vs. Scott Steiner & Crimson: The crowd popped pretty big for Orlando and Eric but they really cheered Steiner when he came out. Eric's antics early on are funny though he can wrestle even hitting a nice pair of arm drags. Orlando is in and he does some weird dance thing in the corner on Magnus. Nice double teaming by The British Invasion on Jesse Neal and the crowd starts chanting loudly, "We Want Steiner". Crimson comes in wrenching Magnus' neck and hitting a nice neckbreaker. Steiner is in takes out both Invasion members and Young when he comes in. Moore tries pissing off Steiner (not hard to do) and hits a nice moonsault onto Williams. It dissolves into each man hitting finishers and Young climbs out of the cage, too bad thats not how you win. Moore hits the Mooregasm neckbreaker for the win. 9/10.

-Christy is backstage with Madison Rayne and Tara, Rayne tells Tara she can do this match on her own and for her to stay in the back.

-TNA Knockouts Title Match: Madison Rayne (Champion) vs. Mickie James: Micke gets a good reaction, Rayne gets booed and Mickie is working this match with a separated shoulder. Rayne gets slammed violently head first into the cage a few times and Mickie hits a jumping DDT, makes the cover and we have a new Knockouts champion. 5/10, nice to see Mickie win the title though.

-Christy is with Matt Morgan where he talks about his match with Hernandez.

-The Pope D'Angelo Dinero vs. Samoa Joe: This is to hopefully settle the nearly 3 month feud these two have had. Joe hits some good fists and Pope hits an impressive slam on Joe. After a slam into the turnbuckle Joe hits a jumping back kick that still amazes me when he does it. Pope uses the ref to distract Joe and take the advantage even hitting a nice palm thrust for 2 and a nice clothesline back sweep for another 2. Joe comes back with a snap slam and a great slap exhange between the 2. As Pope tries to escape Joe pulls his tights down, which I could've gone my whole life without seeing that. Joe drives Pope into the cage and hits the Muscle Buster and locks on the Kokina clutch for the win. 7/10.

-Christy interviews Mexican-America, where Hernandez runs down America and Matt Morgan, I think, have no clue cause I don't speak Spanish.

-Grudge Match: Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan: There's a long long standing history between these men, going back about a year, maybe more. Its power vs. power and is better than most big man vs. man matches that I've seen. Nice crossbody by Morgan but Hernandez comes right back and runs Morgan into the cage and hits a massive running shoulder block that throws Morgan across the ring. Hernandez takes too much time though after this and doesn't pin Morgan when he has the chance. Morgan with some massive fists and clotheslines and slams Hernandez into the cage a few times. Morgan hits the Carbon Footprint as Hernandez dives from the top rope for the win. 7/10.

-Sarita and Rosita stay in the ring and run down TNA and America. Velvet Sky comes out and takes on both women, throwing Sarita around the ring.

-Christy is with Karen Jarrett and she says her husband Jeff Jarrett will beat Kurt.

-Ultra Males Rules 2 out of 3 Falls Match: Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett: This is the most personal feud TNA has ever had and I personally think the storyline is too much, thanks mainly to Karen being a well..... it rhymes with witch I'll leave it at that. These two men can wrestle and have plenty of back and forth action, with this fall being decided by submission, Jeff locks on the figure four, Kurt goes for the Ankle Lock a couple of times, then gets Jeff to tap out to the Ankle Lock to win the first fall. The second fall is via pinfall and it turns into a slugfest at parts, Angle hits a nice throw from the top. Jeff reverses an Angle Slam into a school boy and holds the tights to pin Kurt. Now its whoever escapes wins the match, Kurt gets launched into the cage, but soon after he nails his 3 german suplexes on Jeff. Kurt could've won via going through the door but he wanted revenge and goes after Jeff even busting him open. There's a powerbomb attempt from the top but Kurt tries to reverse it and lands on his head and shoulder. He goes to escape but Gunner from Immortal come down swinging a chair. Kurt goes for a moonsault from the top of the cage but misses. Steiner comes down and runs off Gunner. Karen comes down and maces Kurt, while trying to escape Jeff gets locked into the Ankle Lock, Karen slams the cage door into Kurts face and Jeff stumbles out to win the match. 8/10.

-Triple Threat TNA World Title Match: RVD vs. Sting (Champion) vs. Mr. Anderson: Sting gets a massive reaction from the crowd during his entrance. Starts out with Anderson getting beat up by both men, Sting hits the Stinger Splash and goes for the Scorpion Deathlock but RVD stops that and goes to work on Sting. Nice Double Scorpion Deathlock on both RVD and Anderson. Cool double Mic Check by Anderson but neither man stays down for the 3 count. As Sting goes for the Scorpion Death Drop on RVD Anderson hits a running clothesline and Hogan's music hits to a nice pop. Hogan hands RVD a pipe, but he throws it at the cage defying Hogan, Anderson uses the pipe on RVD but Sting hits the Scorpion Death Drop for the win to retain his title. Kinda short for a World Title Match. 8/10.

-Lethal Lockdown Match: Immortal (Ric Flair, Abyss, Matt Hardy and Bully Ray) vs. Fortune (Daniels, Robert Roode, James Storm and Kazarian): This Lethal Lockdown match seemed a little more personal storyline wise mainly cause of Bully Ray taking out AJ Styles a few weeks prior. Kaz and Abyss start out, Abyss just clubs at him with fists and feet. Kaz nails Abyss into the cage and hits a nice baseball slide. Matt Hardy comes in and early on Kaz has the advantage but Abyss soon nails him and both men take over on Kaz, Matt uses his Icepick submission to wear down Kaz. Daniels comes in taking it to both Abyss and Matt, hitting the BME from the top rope. Daniels hits a top rope arm breaker that seemingly hurts Matt's arm quite a bit. The crowd starts chanting "We Want Flair" and they get their wish as Ric comes in an starts chopping both Daniels and Kaz. Storm comes in spitting beer into Abyss' face, backstabber to Matt and Storm cracks the beer bottle over Flair's head busting him wide open. Ric gets his tights pulled down and we have our second full moon in one night, ugh how horrible. Ray comes in and clubs all 3 members of Fortune in the ring currently. Roode comes in, good chop exchange between Roode and Flair, the roof with weapons lowers and now Lethal Lockdown can begin. Now the match gets more violent with a trash can and lid, kendo stick and other weapons are used, Abyss even gets sent through the door and Daniels goes out after him then pursues Hardy to the top of the cage. Matt hits a Twist of Hate on Daniels on top of the cage. Flair gets a cookie sheet to the head, Ray hits the Bubba slam on Kaz for 2. Storm hits the swinging noose from the top rope onto Ray. Daniels hits a splash from the top of the cage onto both Abyss and Hardy. Ray and Flair hit all of Fortune with weapons and it looks bleak then AJ's music hits to a hugh pop, AJ hits the ring taking his anger out on Ray, hitting the Pele Kick. Roode locks in an arm bar and Flair taps out. 10/10.

Lockdown 2011 is well worth buying especially the main events, even the 4 way tag match was good.

Lockdown:

1. Jay Lethal vs Max Buck vs Jeremy Buck vs Suicide vs Robbie E vs Brian Kendrik vs Amazing Red vs Chris Sabin Xscape Match: This was a good way to watch the show, some great high flying moves, I think that the best few got eliminated 1st in the match which I didnt like but there are some great stuff from the bucks and lethal, I liked this match and the ending ***1/4

2. Crimsom/Scott Steiner vs Ink Inc vs Eric Young/Orlando Jordan vs British Invasion: This was pretty good, steiner hits a suplex on everyone which was great to see, the thing with eric sucked but oh well, the british invasion were good to, the ending was sort of out of nowhere , but oh well, I expected this match to be worse **3/4

3. Samoa Joe vs The Pope: This was a good solid match, it went on for 10 minutes, and these two had a lot of chemistry, I liked the ending but I would of liked to see this match go on for another 5 or so minutes ***

4. Hernandez vs Matt Morgan: This was watchable at best, this wasnt great at all, easily the worst match of the night, the only thing I liked was the ending **

5. Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarret Ultra Male Rules, 1st fall=Submission Match, 2nd fall=Pinfall, 3rd fall= Escape the cage: This was an amazing match, the 1st fall only went on for like 4 minutes, and was not that good, but the last 2 falls were great, angle almost killed himself twice, one with a top rope powerbomb where angle landed on his head, then he hits a mental moonsault off the top of the cage, the match goes back and forth until the ending where karen gets involved but I didnt really hate the ending because it helped the fued and the story a lot, overall a amazing match ****1/4

6. Sting(c) vs Mr Anderson vs RVD TNA World Title: This was slightly dissapointing, it only went on for 7 minutes! These guys hit eachothers finishers, and the ending was pretty good, but I was dissapointed with the outcome **3/4

7. Immortal vs Fortune Lethal Lockdown Match: This was a great main event, very bloody even without the weapons, Immortal had the advantage so they dominated most of the match, then the weapons come into play and then this match turns great, daniels and hardy climbed up the cage and hardy hit a twist of fate, then after this daniels hits a sick spot where he does a crossbody off the cage to the outside on hardy and aybss, Bully Ray cleans house with the kendo stick, and it was great to see AJ Styles come back, and then the ending was out of nowhere, I will say that flair bleeds buckets after getting hit with a glass bottle from storm, this was a great lethal lockdown match, and my second favourite match of the night ****

Match of the Night: Angle vs Jarret
Worst Match of Night: Hernandez vs Morgan
Moment of Night: Angle hits a moonsault off the top of the cage!!!

Overall PPV: 8.5/10

The best TNA PPV that I have seen in a long time, maybe since turning point 2009, so watch this show because it is a lot of fun and includes some great matches and one classic match.

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