You may notice that Chessarmy is not contributing his thoughts this month. This has nothing to do with him; I simply didn't bother him about it this time. The build up to Lockdown has been pretty atrocious. And frankly, given the current state of the product, I can barely muster up the enthusiasm to discuss my own thoughts on this PPV, much less edit in someone else's.
But, frustrations aside, I still have a blog to write. So let's do this thing...
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Kevin Nash vs. Eric Young
Shoot me. The X-division Xcape match gets left off the PPV and Kevin Nash has a singles match. Nash is lucky not to be in a wheelchair as it is, and TNA puts him in a singles cage match in one of their most important PPVs of the year. TNA have officially lost their @#$%ing minds. I imagine the clouds are going to start spitting fire and brimstone soon because the end is certainly nigh if this match is any indication.
This feud shouldn't even exist in the first place because it's so pointless. If Eric Young wins, so what? He beat a 50-year-old man with no knees, who can barely walk. If Eric Young loses, his credibility plunges down to septic levels because he lost to a 50-year-old man with no knees, who can barely walk. EY has everything to lose and nothing to gain here, so someone please explain to me what the potential gain in this feud is.
Anyone...?
Who should win: Anything other than Eric Young completely PWNing Nash will probably have anyone who ordered this PPV calling their cable providers and demanding their money back because, in case you haven't noticed, KEVIN NASH IS A 50-YEAR-OLD MAN WITH NO KNEES, WHO CAN BARELY WALK!!
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Team 3D vs Scott Hall & Syxx-Pac
WHY?! Dear God, why does this match exist?! Did all 3 members of the Band really need a PPV spot so badly that we're being subjected to these 2 has beens vs. Team 3D with 2 weeks of build up instead of the MCMG's tag team title shot? I suppose we should be thankful that we're getting Hall & Waltman instead of the Nasty Boys, but Jesus Christ, that's not much of an upgrade!
Screw it. I'm just going to hold out hope that Hall no-shows again and Waltman gets arrested for possession or something, forcing TNA to come to their senses, scrap this farce and give us our damn X-division Xcape match, like we should have had in the first place.
Who should win: Team 3D
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ALL TITLES ON THE LINE
The Beautiful People (c) vs Angelina Love (c) & Tara
And the hits just keep on coming. Good Lord, it's almost as if TNA WANT the buyrate for this PPV to suck. Since the day they arrived in TNA, when have TBP ever displayed even the slightest hint that they could deliver a watchable cage match, much less a cage match worthy of Lockdown? Never. And that's a big damn problem.
Sarita & Taylor Wilde could only carry TBP so far and SariTaylor are better workers than Tara & Angelina. So what kind of match is this going to be? Not a very good one. Until now, TBP have been coasting by in this feud on their mic skills and charisma, but mic skills and charisma aren't going to mean squat here because IT'S A DAMN CAGE MATCH!
Is Velvet going to do a moonsault off the top of the cage? Is Madison going to blade? Is Lacey going to do... ANYTHING? I seriously doubt it. And the fact that one of these women might actually become the singles champion here is an outcome too horrible for me to contemplate.
Who should win: Either Tara & Angelina win or we all lose.
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X-DIVISION TITLE MATCH
Kazarian vs. Shannon Moore vs. Douglas Williams (c)
FINALLY something I'm actually looking forward to! Am I the only one getting annoyed at Shannon Moore's forced inclusion in the title picture? Kazarian earns a title shot, only to have said shot turned into a triple threat on iMPACT so Moore can get the shot at Williams on PPV. Then Kazarian earns ANOTHER title shot in a great ladder match at Destination-X, only for it to be turned into a triple threat AGAIN so Moore can be in the match too, even though he came up short against Williams the first time, and THEN virtually all the build up to this triple threat match is focused on Moore, with Kazarian not even seen on TV for several weeks. I know it's to be expected that people in Hogan's camp (i.e. Moore) will get preferential treatment, but it seems like Kaz is really getting screwed over here.
Then there's the fact that the writers really haven't done much with Williams as the champion. He's been more strongly booked recently and I do like this angle of the technical wrestling bully vs. the high fliers of the X-division, but it just doesn't seem like they want to devote as much time to him as they should.
Who should win: Kazarian. The X-division needs a champion that the writers actually want to devote TV time to, and it seemed like that person was Kaz until Shannon Moore showed up. Moore is a good performer, but he hasn't proven himself or gotten over yet. IMO, that makes Kaz the best choice. Besides, the Prince of Punk gimmick is just dumb. I'm with CM Punk on this one; Moore looks like a poseur.
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Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson
Anderson won the ladder match on iMPACT, giving him the key to the cage and thus, the advantage in this match. And since they're saying this will be the end of the feud, it makes sense for Angle to beat the odds and go over. On the other hand, Anderson would benefit more from getting the win and Angle is reportedly taking some time off after this PPV, so a good case could be made for Anderson as well. However, I'm going with Angle on this one. By this point, these men will have had several regular matches, a ladder match and a cage match, and I'd really like this feud to end before the writers make another trip to Gimmick Matches 'R Us.
Who should win: Kurt Angle
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LETHAL LOCKDOWN
Team Hogan: Captain -- Abyss, Jeff Jarret, Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy
vs.
Team Flair: Captain -- Sting, Desmond Wolfe, Beer Money Inc.
The babyfaces have had the upper hand at almost every turn in the build up for this, despite what TNA would have us believe. The heels gained the edge in post-match beatdowns and such, but in the ring, Wolfe and Beer Money have been jobbing all over the place to Abyssamania (ugh...) and co. TNA are trying to present it as if the faces are at a disadvantage, but that's not what it seems like to me.
Booking 101 tells us that the faces will go over to balance the scales, but frankly, the heels need this win a lot more than the faces do right now, if for no other reason than to show that they can actually beat Hogan's boys in a match.
Who should win: Team Flair. Hopefully with Wolfe, Storm or Roode getting the pin. Sting certainly doesn't need it and would gain nothing from it, while any of the other 3 would gain valuable credibility.
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WORLD TITLE MATCH
D'Angelo Dinero vs. AJ Styles (c)
You wouldn't know this was the main event from the hype, or lack thereof. AJ did not come out of his match with Abyss at Destination-X smelling like a rose and he hasn't gotten much screen time since then. Meanwhile, the Pope has been more focused on Desmond Wolfe than anyone else in recent weeks and hasn't gotten nearly enough build up to be a credible headliner against AJ, which is puzzling, since you'd think the writers would be doing everything they can to build him up as he'll be going into this match as an untested main eventer and needs all the momentum he can get. I'm sure it will be a fine match, but it doesn't feel like the main event of Lockdown should because of the lack of solid hype.
Who should win: AJ Styles. I can definitely see Pope winning the belt, but not right now. He just hasn't had enough build up. Plus, given how AJ has been deemphasized as of late, Pope winning the belt from him now wouldn't mean as much as it should. AJ needs to be made to look like a strong champion so it will be an impressive feat for whoever finally dethrones him. And lastly, I just really want AJ to retain here, surpass Sting's record and be the longest reigning TNA world champion in history. If anyone deserves that, it's AJ Styles.
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Overall thoughts: I'd have to go back and look at all the past cards to be sure, but if this isn't the weakest Lockdown card in TNA history, I'd be surprised. The build up was pretty lousy, there's no X-division Xcape match, not 1 but 2 matches with the Band and a Beautiful People match that doesn't promise to deliver much more than enough time for a piss break.
I'd just like to say, for the record, that I am NOT ordering this PPV. I absolutely refuse to pay money for any PPV that has Kevin Nash in a singles match and Hall & Waltman in a match that was thrown together at the last minute just to give them a spot, thus excluding a whole lot of talented young stars that actually deserved it.
I'll probably download it on Monday so I can do the review, but I don't have high hopes for this show. All I can do is hope for the best at this point.
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