Bully stands tall as the new champ. Photo credit: impactwrestling.com
Kenny King (c) defeated Christian York and Zema Ion to retain the X Division Championship in a Triple Threat match. And what a great choice for opener this was, with blistering action and plenty of excitement throughout. All three men looked on top form and provided more than worthy efforts, giving probably their best performances in the company to date.
For me this certainly toppled anything involving RVD and King, and proves that the division didn't need him but the younger, fresher talent to bring back the excitement which the division was built on.
Joseph Parks pinned Joey Ryan in a passable comedy match. There was nothing exceptional here but it wasn't bad, there were some fair moments of wrestling. Parks gained the one-two-three after sitting on Ryan as he went to roll him over for a pin attempt.
Velvet Sky (c) beat Gail Kim to retain the Knockouts Title in a largely pedestrian affair until the final couple of minutes. Kim looked stellar as normal, while Sky looked okay if unremarkable, so also the norm for her. For the finish Kim confusingly pushed and slapped referee Taryn Terrell for counting slow and then dared her to call for a disqualification. Why on earth would Kim call for a DQ when the title was on the line and she was the challenger? It made no sense. Eventually having enough Terrell then snapped and attacked Kim, allowing Sky to apply an In Yo' Face for the win.
Rob Terry pinned Robbie E in a mediocre outing. The match contained uninspiring wrestling that was occasionally sloppy at times, which wasn't a shock considering the two talents involved. You wouldn't miss much by skipping this one to be honest.
Austin Aries & Bobby Roode (c) bested Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez and Bad Influence (Christopher Daniels & Kazarian) to retain the TNA Tag Team Titles in a superb three way tag bout. The action was red hot here as all six men kept up a terrific pace throughout with solid wrestling and plenty of excitement. I was trying to pick out a standout performer or two but it was too hard, with every man giving a great effort. Definitely lifted the quality of the event after some lacklustre few match ups.
Wes Brisco beat Kurt Angle in a Steel Cage match. This was actually a lot more enjoyable than I'd anticipated. Kurt as standard for him was on top form, helping Wes to provide a fun first match inside a cage for the night. Brisco looked competent enough here, but clearly still has some work to do in the ring. As usual Angle provided a very memorable moment inside the steel structure in the form of a German Suplex from the side of the cage towards the end.
For the finish D'Lo Brown, the VP of Aces & 8s, cracked Angle from behind after he'd exited the cage (Kurt had accidentally KO'd the referee a few moments earlier) and threw him back him and helped drag Wes out as the ref recovered.
Team TNA (Sting, James Storm, Eric Young, Samoa Joe and Magnus) defeated Aces & 8s (Devon, Doc, Garett Bischoff, Mr Anderson and Knox) in the Lethal Lockdown match. The match got off to a bit of a slow start as each man entered the steel structure, which is understandable. After the last man Sting entered with two dustbins (if you haven't guessed yet, I'm British) full of weapons the bout started to get a bit more interesting.
Each unit took it in turns to dominate, with some nice bits of action here and there. But the biggest highlight of the match (and one I'll always remember) was when Samoa Joe pulled down five stacked men above him (including Garett at the top of the cage) down to the mat, it predictably got a standing ovation from the fans in Texas. Eric Young gained the winning pin after applying a diving elbow drop from the top of the cage, it was a nice finish.
Overall it was an enjoyable enough Lockdown match, but certainly not the best. The removal of the roof from the past (which contained weapons and would be lowered after all men had entered) was a bit disappointing for me, some of the most dramatic moments from previous LL matches happened at the top on the roof (normally involving AJ Styles). But I can't fault the efforts of most men involved, they provided a fun watch.
Bully Ray pinned Jeff Hardy (c) to obtain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a Steel Cage main event. The bout itself was a tremendous one too, with effective near falls and dramatic back and fourth wrestling, plus an ending I very much enjoyed, but I'll get to that in a bit...
Both men gave displays to be proud of and contributed a worthy main event to an otherwise up and down night in terms of quality. During the contest Wes Brisco and Garett Bischoff came in, only to be soon chucked out by Hardy and Ray. Later on the rest of Aces also entered the cage, and this was when Devon passed over a hammer to Bully to strike down Hardy with and cover him for the World strap. Now my only gripe with the match itself was Wes and Garett entering it, what was the point? it just made them look weak. I can't fathom any reason or point to it.
Afterwards Brooke and Hulk Hogan (poorly) feigned shock at what they'd just witnessed, with Hulk's expression especially amusing. Bully then explained that he'd used Hulk, "screwed" Brooke and fooled all the fans, and announced himself as the President of Aces & 8s. He delivered the promo brilliantly, and reminded me why I loved him so much as a heel before, calling the Hulkster an "old bastard" and Brooke a "stupid bitch." The fans then began to rain down bottles and cups onto the gang in the cage, it was like a scene from pro wrestling in the nineties, it was a memorable end to the show.
On the whole Lockdown was a mixed bag of a pay-per-view, with the majority of matches pretty pedestrian and unmemorable. My highlights were the tag team title bout and the main event, both terrific outings with great displays from all involved. The Lethal Lockdown match was also decent at parts, it's just a shame the rest of the card didn't live up to those three. Most importantly the event had a strong finale, leaving me wanting to see more from the solid heel that is Bully Ray and what's going to happen on Thursday night.
No comments:
Post a Comment