My TNA Lockdown 2012 Recap

First of all, I apologise for this recap being a bit late. I have other stuff to attend to, you know? So we good? Cool.

Backstage Garett Bischoff asked the other members of his team to allow him to be the first entrant into the Lethal Lockdown match due to his determination to prove himself to them all, so they accepted his decision.  

Gunner and Garett started off the Lethal Lockdown with half decent exchanges. Gunner did well considering he had to work with the inexperienced Garett. Bully Ray then entered the fray, where he and Gunner just knocked about their opponent and genrally wasted time until Austin Aries joined them (to a solid reaction from the fans). Fortunately Aries upped the pace and quality of the bout briefly before Bully took the offence to him. Kazarian was next in, sporting a now shaved head. The time then just dragged a bit as Eric Bischoff's team slowly kept Garett and Aries down with strikes.

AJ Styles then entered the cage and managed to get the crowd excited once again with some of his signature maneuvers. Unfortunately this was short lived as Eric's team nonsensically managed to get the upper hand once again, even though the teams were now even. Garett's team should've used AJ's momentum here and started to gain the upper hand before the next participant Christopher Daniels entered and once again helped out his fellow heels in taking control. Mr. Anderson then entered and clumsily clobbered the other team. 

Strangely Eric Bischoff then gave his team the edge once again as he came in, even though Ric Flair had been named the fifth member of the unit on Impact. Bischoff held back his son as Bully Ray applied some nasty looking chops. Rob Van Dam was the final entrant as he performed his usual routine of moves that he has done for pretty much every match since joining TNA. The roof of the cage then lowered and Garett's team began taking out Eric's with various weapons attached to it. Shortly after things started to become even again as the wrestlers started performing their signature moves on each other for the strongest part of the match. 

As Garett then had Daniels down for a pin his father halted it and whipped him with a kendo stick multiple times. Of course he then made a heroic comeback and smashed his Dad in the head with a prop guitar for the one-two-three and a well received win by the fans in attendance. Not by me so much unfortunately, if it were my choice I wouldn't have either Bischoff in TNA. Overall it wasn't the greatest Lockdown match by a fair distance, but it had it's moments towards the end as the pace picked up and the moves went beyond simple strikes. 

Samoa Joe and Magnus (c) defeated Motorcity Machine Guns to retain the TNA Tag Team titles in one of the best tag bouts I've seen in a while. Both teams looked solid here and presented a thoroughly enjoyable match from start to finish, with plenty of nice double team moves. My only gripe was with the quiet fans during it, although I guess they were maybe confused as to who they were meant to be cheering for.

Devon (c) defeated Robbie E to defend his TNA Television Championship in a mostly average contest. Both guys looked decent enough, it just wasn't a match that blew me away. Afterwards Robbie T entered the cage and beat down Devon. 

Gail Kim (c) defeated Velvet Sky to retain the TNA Knockouts title in a solid enough encounter. As ever Kim clearly put in her all and wanted to give everyone a worthy title match, and fortunately Sky looked like she also had the same mindset and put in a performance above her usual standard. Kim gained the win with a roll up pin that the referee should've counted faster on, it wasn't believable that Velvet wouldn't have kicked out quicker.

A suited up Ric Flair entered the cage and expressed his anger at Hulk Hogan not leaving him alone and helping end Eric Bischoff's career. Hogan then joined 'The Nature Boy', who claimed he didn't like the way he was running Impact Wrestling. After some more exchanged words Hogan had enough and punched Flair. I'm not quite sure what this segment was meant to achieve, if anything. Hopefully we won't have to witness these two in the ring together again.     

Crimson defeated Matt Morgan in a fair match. Morgan had the majority of the attack going but got his leg caught up on the ropes, allowing Crimson to escape from the cage for the win. Judging by the finish I'm guessing this drab feud will continue.  

Jeff Hardy defeated Kurt Angle in a thrilling match that lived up to the billing. As expected this was a special bout, but what else would it be with these two involved, and inside a steel structure? I'll admit I wasn't too sure how serious Angle's injury was going into this, so I was predicting him having to take it a little easier then usual, but he certainly didn't let up and both men gave a great performance. 

For a mental and exciting finish Hardy performed a Swanton Bomb from the top of the cage onto Angle for the pinfall victory.  

ODB and Eric Young (c) defeated Rosita and Sarita to retain the TNA Knockouts Tag Team titles. The match was a largely drab and forgettable affair, with EY remaining on the ropes while his newly wed bride took care of the Mexican America members. 

Bobby Roode (c) defeated James Storm to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a heated and worthy main event. Both men have proven to me since disbanding Beer Money that they are just as effective in the singles division and are two proud performers who went out to put on a World title match that people would remember, and they succeeded. 

Now as much as I enjoyed the bout, the result was once again the completely wrong one just like back at Bound For Glory, the fans were screwed. After a brilliant build up for the hometown hero and in form Storm to finally be the man to end Roode's title run, they have him Last Call Superkick the champ out of the cage and give him another screwy win. This was the perfect opportunity for the run to end, everything was set just right, I just cannot fathom why the writers decided to have Roode the victor here.

My Impact Wrestling, April 12th 2012 Recap

Eric Bischoff announced his team representing him in the Lethal Lockdown match this Sunday. It includes Bully Ray, Kazarian, Gunner and Christopher Daniels, so a decent enough line up. Bully claimed how proud he was to be a part of Bischoff's unit, but claimed he'd made one mistake, that being his "bastard son" Garrett. Bischoff then also announced that they'd be having a best of three series to determine who will have the one man advantage at Lockdown.

Sure enough Garrett Bischoff made his way out and announced the first member of his team Mr. Anderson.

Gunner won via disqualification versus Mr. Anderson in a mediocre and forgettable match up. The referee DQ'd Anderson after he refused to commence choking Gunner in the corner.

The Motorcity Machine Guns questioned the current TNA Tag Team Champions Samoa Joe and Magnus' credentials as title holders, warning them that they were a step above their usual competition so far in the company, which is true. Samoa Joe and Magnus decided to join the number one contenders to their titles, where Magnus credited the Machine Gun's success and Sabin's recovery from injury, but also warned them that he and Joe were now the top team in the industry.

Mexican America decided to interrupt the two teams but were soon taken out by all four wrestlers.   

Austin Aries defeated Christopher Daniels in a brilliant back and fourth contest with crisp action from both men. It's no shock when you get a match of this quality from two professionals who clearly take pride in their craft, it's just a shame we don't see more of it in a company that promotes the mediocre likes of Anderson and Garrett Bischoff. Aries scored the winning pin after applying a brainbuster.   

Jeff Hardy gave a very brief warning to Kurt Angle that there will be no escape for him at Lockdown, and that they were going to make history. It was almost as if Hardy couldn't be asked to be there, although I may be being a bit unfair and he might have only been allocated a short amount of promo time.

During the quite strange, albeit rather amusing wedding ceremony of Eric Young and ODB, Sarita and Rosita interrupted the proceedings and offered Young the chance to be with them instead. But EY would not be tempted as he (and ODB) stripped down and married each other to chants from the crowd of Daniel Bryan's patented "Yes!" Now, I wasn't expecting much from this segment, but it was actually quite fair considering, and strangely a feel good moment. Don't judge me.   

Bully Ray defeated AJ Styles in a decent bout, although there were inevitable distractions from members of both teams at ringside the action in the ring stayed solid. Ray grabbed the one-two-three after striking AJ in the head with a chain wrapped around his fist.  

Hulk Hogan came out and announced that the Lethal Lockdown match will now be "five on five, brother." A rushed Eric decided to pick the out of shape Ric Flair, who hasn't been involved in a decent match in God knows how long. Meanwhile Garrett, who'd been given prior warning from Hogan, chose the returning Rob Van Dam as his final teammate.    

Velvet Sky and Mickie James defeated Gail Kim and Madison Rayne in an entertaining tag team bout. The quality of matches the likes of Kim and James put on really do put the majority of interchangeable WWE Divas to shame.  

James Storm spoke to Bobby Roode in the ring about how their relationship had evolved from their memorable Beer Money days. Roode admitted that he was very proud of those days, but also reminisced about them going into singles wrestling and his journey to becoming the TNA World Champion. But the reminiscing soon turned into aggression and intensity as the one to one slowly (and effectively) grew more and more heated. 

Towards the end Roode claimed that he and Storm never liked each other during their time as a tag team, that it was their individual passion for the business that brought them success. He also brought up Storm's deceased brothers and father as the show went off the air. It was a superbly intense segment between the two and probably the finest promo I've seen either men ever give. Sunday in Nashville should bring a very entertaining Cage Match between the two.

My Impact Wrestling, April 5th 2012 Recap

Hulk Hogan came out and addressed Sting, Dixie Carter and the locker room (who were surrounding the ring) regarding the supposed new direction that TNA will be taking with him as the new GM. He then booked Matt Morgan vs Crimson for Lockdown, which should be about as drab as I'm expecting, and a Knockouts Championship Challenge to determine to the number one contender to Gail Kim's Knockout title.    

'The Hulkster' then called out Eric Bischoff but was unfortunately addressed by Ric Flair who claimed that Bischoff would be appearing later that night. As usual the egotistical Flair tried taking over the segment and attempted to demean the new GM by claiming that he has no authority over him. I fail to see any plusses to having Flair in the company still.   

TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode joined everyone and warned Hogan not to push his authority with him, or else he'll receive the same treatment as Sting and Carter. He also added that his only obligation to the company was to defend his title against James Storm at Lockdown, but as he was about to leave Hogan reminded him that things were "changing around here" and booked the champ in a match against Mr. Anderson for that night.   

Jeff Hardy defeated Kurt Angle via count out in a solid contest. Although not as good as their previous encounter it was still a largely entertaining bout, as expected when these two are put together. I still think having these two captain teams for a Lethal Lockdown match next Sunday would've been the way to go.

Bully Ray called out X Division Champion Austin Aries. After mocking Aries and his size eventually the champ made his way out and cracked 'Calfzilla' in the head with a mic, but Bully retaliated with a powerbomb.

Velvet Sky bested Winter, Mickie James, Tara, Angelina Love and Madison Rayne to win the Knockout Championship Challenge. It was an entertaining match and the best Knockouts one since Tara versus Kim, with the right wrestlers here being allocated the appropriate time (e.g. Love getting more then Rayne). This is the quality this division should be providing every week. Angelina Love and Tara were the standout performers for me.      

James Storm defeated AJ Styles in an extremely lively and competitive match up. Both men went all out and you can tell from the quality of this, the best match of the night. Storm caught Styles with his signature Last Call Superkick as AJ landed from a flip form the ropes for the one-two-three.

Afterwards Storm challenged Roode to face him in the ring one on one on next weeks Impact. 

The Motorcity Machine Guns defeated Mexican America in a fast paced and very entertaining tag match. Sabin and Shelley never missed a beat as they performed a selection of their signature double team maneuvers. Credit to Mexican America too, this was probably their best match in a long while.  

Eric Bischoff confronted Hogan in the arena and claimed that he wasn't a visionary but an opportunist, someone who will latch on to something that is "most easiest and most likely to benefit you," too true. Hogan, who sounded a bit nervous on the mic as he stalled now and then, challenged Bischoff to assemble a team to face a team of his son Garret's choosing in a Lethal Lockdown match. He also added a stipulation that if Eric wins, his son is fired, but if Garett wins then Eric must leave the company.

Bobby Roode defeated Mr. Anderson in an average and forgettable bout. Both men went back and fourth with a surprisingly lively crowd. Roode grabbed the pin after striking Anderson with a beer bottle while the referee was knocked out. However Hogan came down to the ring after, accompanied by James Storm, and reversed the decision, announcing Anderson as the victor.