The Wrestling Framework 04.22.11: TNA Lockdown!

Match 1

Devon vs. Anarquia

Psychology: .5
Work Rate: .2
Crowd: 1
Spots: .1
Finish: 1.9
Overall: 3.7

Psychology: Sadly, I didn’t really catch much of the build-up to these two guys wrestling. I understood right at the beginning that these two guys don’t like each other. It was an abrupt end and it didn’t really end or further anything. Maybe I’m just not seeing what TNA booking was doing here. The selling of both men was pretty bad too.

Work Rate: Eh, not a whole lot to be spoken of really. A lot of brawling and not a whole lot of actual wrestling. A few slams, but really just lackluster work as far as wrestling. I had hoped for more from these two, but that’s probably asking too much.

Crowd: The crowd was not quite there. They were kind of in to it, kind of not. They were just starting to warm up is all. Devon did get some crowd involvement as he tried the TNA chant that died as fast as it started and Devon stole someones beer to hit Anarquia with. That actually gave this part a decent score.

Spots: Eh, not much to speak of. For a cage match it was pretty lame. I think the biggest spot of the match was the use of an alcoholic beverage as a weapon that I mentioned earlier. Sadly, nothing was good enough to bring this over a .1…which I gave for the beer smashing part.

Finish: A solid ending. Face hits heel with a finishing move and gets a clean pin. Even though it was a pinfall victory in a cage match, it was a solid way to finish this match. Also, hopefully, that was an end to whatever this was.

Final Thoughts: This match wasn’t all too bad. I enjoyed it, but it was too short and a bit lackluster. It was an opening match, which usually means it’s going to be short and nothing real big, but it looked more like an opener for a TV show and not a PPV. Other than that, I really didn’t know where this will lead, but from the post-match beatdown it looks like it’s going to lead to something more with these two. Or at least with some sort of anti-Mexican America faction or teaming with Matt Morgan more.

Match 2

Max Buck vs. Jeremy Buck vs. Robbie E vs. Chris Sabin vs. Jay Lethal vs. Suicide vs. Amazing Red vs. Brian Kendrick

Psychology: .5
Work Rate: 2
Crowd: 1.4
Spots: .8
Finish: 1
Overall: 5.7

Psychology: Some great chemistry here. Really surprising considering there was 8 guys in this match. Fun stuff between Max and Jeremy Buck especially when Jeremy wants Max but Max runs off. This match especially made me like the Robbie E character a little more. I just wish he would get a haircut because he looks like a REALLY terrible Guile clone. But in the end, this match was more about the wrestling and not about telling a story that will continue on.

Work Rate: This was the X-Division at it’s finest. We all know that the X-Division is where the work rate work horses are. And this match was no exception. All 8 men brought their A game and really put on a great match. This was absolutely the best wrestling of the night.

Crowd: The crowd was HOT. This was what all the TNA fans have been waiting for. The return of the X-Division and the return of fast-paced, sharp and crisp, high-flying wrestling. The crowd was loud and on their feet for most of that match. Bisch didn’t even need to impose crowd sounds in to this one.

Spots: This match was just one big spot itself. But…this was a cage match with a lot of talented and daring wrestlers…and not a single person so much as jumped off the top of the cage. The closest we got was Kendirck being knocked off. That’s just really disappointing to me. And that affected the the score for this.

Finish: It caught me off guard. But it was a good finish for Max Buck. I thought for sure that Max would have at least cemented the idea that Kendrick will stay down. But, I guess being knocked off the top was enough. Could have been better, but it was good.

Final Thoughts: This was a great match as far as wrestling goes. It was great to see a good X-Division outing like this and I hope this is a preview of what’s yet to come from the Division. The match was not as highly rated as some people might think, but this was purely all wrestling and not much story except for maybe Buck vs. Buck.

Match 3

CrimSteiner vs. The Jordan’s vs. British Invasion vs. Ink Inc.

Psychology: .7
Work Rate: 1.6
Crowd: 1.2
Spots: .7
Finish: 2
Overall: 6.2

Psychology: There was a story to be told here and it was that each team wanted to get their shot at the tag titles. The fight that these guys put up against each other and the tenacity helped show that this match was worth putting it all on the line to win. It’s just really hard to follow the story when there’s so many people in the ring trying to put their part in to it. Psychology is a rough thing to get going in a large match.

Work Rate: Things were going great until Scott Steiner came in. He killed everyone and no-sold just about everything. Then he almost kills Brutus Magnus(I think, couldn’t tell if it was him or Doug) with that top rope move. No-sells Shannon Moore tagging himself in the first time and then probably remembers he’s supposed to go out the second time. Scott Steiner almost ruined this match for me. But that ending brought it back.

Crowd: The good folks at this event were really in to this match. And boy did they really want Steiner. Mid-match the chant of “We want Steiner” was huge. And to top it all off these four teams really kept the crowd whipped in a frenzy following the intense spectacle the last match was nicely.

Spots: Some nice little spots. Not as much as I had wished, you know, since it was a cage match and all. Well, then again, all the matches are cage matches, so I’m probably asking too much for a lot of spots. It would really bring down the show I guess.

Finish: I loved this finish. Everyone hits someone with a move to put them down. Eric Young plays the match retard as he climbs out of the cage and thinks that he won it for his team only to hear that Ink Inc. won. Shannon Moore hitting the Mooregasm in the middle of the ring surrounded by carnage was a good way to end it cleanly.

Final Thoughts: This match wasn’t as bad as I thought it would have been. I wish Scott Steiner would have stayed there in his corner leaning on the ropes and doing nothing. He almost completely ruined this match for me but it was saved by the other 7 guys. Good ending to the match and I hope Ink Inc. can go and get their shot at the tag titles and win.

Match 3

Madison Rayne vs. Mickie James

Psychology: 1
Work Rate: .2
Crowd: .4
Spots: .2
Finish: 1
Overall: 2.8

Psychology: Yeah, I think Mickie was pissed. She just kicked the ever living shit out of Madison Rayne smashing her pretty little head on every wall of the cage before planting it into the ring. I’m actually impressed with the ability that Mickie had to really get the point and story of the match across in like thirty seconds.

Work Rate: Eh, not much to really to speak of but I’ll give it a .2 for that DDT which look brutal.

Crowd: Wasn’t much to hear but they were defiantly oohing and aahing.

Spots: Smash! Smash! Smash! Smash! This get’s a .2 for the remains of Madison Raynes head left all over the cage walls.

Finish: Eh, it was okay. Abrupt and brutal. I love that DDT though. Good, tenacious ending that put the exclamation on the end of the match and the climax of the story.

Final Thoughts: Short but sweet. Always love me some Mickie James. Hopefully, her shoulder wont be a problem for too long now that TNA decided to put the Knockouts title on her. Overall, I think it was just a bad idea to have Mickie in there with her separated shoulder and to give a :30 match on a PPV instead of changing it up and turn it into a tag match or something to make it go at least five minutes would have been better and would have been giving back to the fan/customer.

Match 4

Samoa Joe vs. The Pope

Psychology: 1
Work Rate: 1.2
Crowd: 1.5
Spots: .9
Finish: 1.7
Overall: 6.3

Psychology: Yeah, these guys really do have great chemistry. I can understand why TNA has kept them feuding for so long. Joe finally getting his hands on Pope in a cage where there’s no escape must have been heaven for him. Even the facial expressions from the start of the match were nicely done and added a lot to the story they were telling. They sold the feud so well.

Work Rate: These guys put on a good match. Wasn’t the most technically proficient or a real mat based clinic but it was pretty entertaining. Lots of striking which I don’t mind from these two. Joe and Pope are scrappers. This is one of the very few matches that were mostly brawling that I’ll give a nod to in work rate.

Crowd: The crowd was revived by this after the little Knockouts match. Always love hearing the “Joe is gonna kill you” chants. The crowd was really in to this match.

Spots: A few spots, not too bad. Really loved seeing Pope fall and rack himself on the ropes. Was pretty funny watching it too. Reminded me of something you’d see on a cartoon. And I’ll put it here, cause I have no idea where else to put it, but seeing Popes ass and getting a close up of it was WAY TOO MUCH.

Finish: Great ending. Started with Joe almost putting Pope through the cage wall followed by a Muscle Buster and then finishing Pope with the Kohkina Clutch. A dominant ending in favor of Joe and hopefully that’ll be the end of these two battling. It’s gone on for long enough, it’s time to send these guys separate ways and feud them with other people.

Final Thoughts: Good match. I really enjoyed this one. So far, Lockdown has had only one bad match and it really wasn’t because of anything other than it being short. Joe and Pope always bring the goods when it comes to matches but it’s time to let them spread their ass kickery to other areas. I’d love to see Joe and Bully Ray go at it.

Match 5

Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez

Psychology: .9
Work Rate: .3
Crowd: .5
Spots: .2
Finish: 1.7
Overall: 3.6

Psychology: These guys don’t click too well. But, in spite of that, they put on a solid match that sold the story they’re telling. It’s was easy to see that it was a classic case of face vs heel, good vs evil. And good use of the outside Anarquia to use the camera hole to grab Morgan. I liked that. And maybe it’s just me, but Matt Morgan can’t sell.

Work Rate: This was pretty bad. Slips and sloppiness. I wasn’t overly impressed with these guy’s work in the ring. I don’t know if it was them just not trying or what, but it was not impressive at all. I think this has to be the worst match, that made it over a minute, wrestling wise.

Crowd: The crowd seemed to have a mixed reaction. I had to watch the match over to make a decision here. I don’t know what it was about the match, but there were points the crowd was on fire just for them to become bored with the match. When you hear the workers at ringside perfectly, then there’s a problem. Especially in this type of spot when they’re yelling viva or whatever, the crowd should be booing them out of the house.

Spots: Not a lot. Actually, really none at all. But that’s okay. This match didn’t need it. It was fine just the way it was. Only cool spot was the finish.

Finish: That was a nice way to finish it off. I thought for sure Super Mex would get the upper hand on Matt but no, Carbon Foot Print to a flying Hernandez. Especially nice as it was right after dealing with a distraction of Anarquia climbing up on the cage. Good end to a mediocre match.

Final Thoughts: Eh, this was disappointing. I was hoping for more from these two. Especially since this feud has been on fire. I think if it had been a cage match on any other PPV, and the only cage match at that, it could have been a much better match. I’m just wondering now if this feud is going to continue on, if not that was a weak blow off.

Match 6

Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett

Psychology: 2
Work Rate: 1.4
Crowd: 1.8
Spots: 1.1
Finish: 1.2
Overall: 7.5

Psychology: These guys work so well together that, like Joe and Pope, it really makes sense why they would want the feud they’re in to continue for so long. And these guys didn’t miss a beat at all in this match. They had the same chemistry and sold a great story to the fans that I can’t say anything bad about.

Work Rate: These guys really gave it their all. But there was a few blown spots like that super-moonsault and some sloppiness that brought down the work rate. Not to mention that Kurt almost killed himself trying to do something pointless. I’ll explain that in the spots. I loved the first fall being the submission match. The end of that one was awesome. I loved how Kurt reversed that armbar into the ankle lock. Was friggin’ sweet.

Crowd: When the crowd needed to be, they were there. They did what they had to as a crowd. They were there to cheer and boo at the right times and Kurt and JJ had them at their beck and call.

Spots: There were too many. Too many damn spots. They should have limited it to a few big spots, preferably nothing that could be as dangerous as that rana, but just a few that way we had a few big spots to talk about. Instead it was over-saturated with this spot, that spot that you’re bound to forget about them and it take away from the match. That’s why promotions like ECW and CZW really will never make it. I will say the overhead belly-to-belly was pretty sick and the Viper RKO was a nice little snipe at Orton. Or, a nice show of respect. Just depends if you see through the bullshit or not.

Finish: Well, we know this is going on longer, still. This feud just will not end. This finish just proved that the angle will continue. I don’t know if I should let the fact that I’m tired of the feud to be a factor in the score for the finish since it was an okay finish. It was a good heel win for JJ. But I’m just tired of it being that he wins with help from Karen.

Final Thoughts: This match was GREAT! I just wish this was the blow off as it would have been the best way for these two to end it. Instead of having JJ win with help from Karen, he should have just won by straight beating Kurt to a pulp. The overbooking of the match really brought it down from what it could have been. I think that this match had much more potential if they had just ditched some of the huge spots and focused more on the wrestling to tell their story. This should be a MOTY candidate.

Match 6

Sting vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Mr. Anderson

Psychology: .7
Work Rate: .9
Crowd: 1.8
Spots: .5
Finish: 1
Overall: 4.9

Psychology: This match didn’t feel like the large caliber match it was supposed to be. This was the TNA world title match but it didn’t really look like they were fighting for the biggest prize in the company. It felt like they were rushing it. And it was really too short.

Work Rate: Not too bad. These three guys are at the top of the company for a reason and it’s because they can perform with the best of them. There were some missed spots and sloppiness, but it’s to be expected I guess. RVD and Anderson are known to be a little sloppy in the ring. More RVD than anything. Other than that, not a bad wrestling match.

Crowd: The crowd was fired up for the title match and for these three guys. The TNA faithful love Sting, RVD and Anderson and they really gave them the love in this match and it really helped the match out.

Spots: A few little spots here and there that were cool but there wasn’t anything good enough that helped elevate the match to the level it needed to be.

Finish: It was okay. Not the best, but was good to further things in the world title scene. Stinger getting the win was good. I like Sting as the champ. He’s the true face of the company. He’s the veteran who they need to keep around with the title.

Final Thoughts: This match just wasn’t that good. It was just horribly disappointing and really felt rushed. They gave most of the time to Angle/Jarrett and the Lethal Lockdown. I think they should have taken time from the Lethal Lockdown and made the WORLD TITLE match longer.

Match 7

Immortal vs. Fortune

Psychology: 1.7
Work Rate: 1
Crowd: 1.6
Spots: 1.5
Finish: 1.3
Overall: 7.1

Psychology: I liked the Lethal Lockdown concept. It really helps with getting the match psychology in to the mix. As I said before, it’s really hard to see the psychology with so many people in the ring, but with this, they really can progress the match smoothly and sell the story nicely. And they did just that.

Work Rate: Some really good work here. I was expecting this to be a bit of a clusterfuck but it was actually watchable from a wrestling work rate stand point. Well, some of it was. Some of it was pretty bad. Some of the guys was a bit sloppy, a few times even Daniels was. Matt Hardy was Matt Hardy. Overall, I’d say mediocre work.

Crowd: The crowd, regardless if they were tired from the show were STILL hot, loud and on their feet. This match had the crowd up and down and if they weren’t worn completely out by the end of this match, then that crowd is as inhuman as Kurt Angle. The crowd went APESHIT when AJ Styles’ music hit.

Spots: The beer bottle use on Flair was sick. Of course I didn’t want to see Flair bleed, but it was inevitable. That spear on Abyss through the door was awesome. And Daniels diving off the top of the cage was something I had been waiting for all night. All the weapons use. Overall, good use of spots.

Finish: AJ STYLES RETURNS! I don’t care what anyone says, I like AJ. Sure, he’s not really main event caliber as TNA tried to push him, but he’s a performer that comes out and gives it his all. Most of the time. I will say that Roode beating Flair with an armbar was not what I expected. It was pretty intense looking though.

Final Thoughts: A good match that I enjoyed watching. And it was a great, yet predictable, way to bring AJ back. Fortune stood tall and I hope to see Fortune and Immortal continuing the war they have but in a more 1 on 1 way, if you know what I mean.

RECAP
Devon vs. Anarquia: 3.7
Max Buck wins X-Division Xscape: 5.7
CrimSteiner vs. The Jordan’s vs. British Invasion vs. Ink Inc.: 6.2
Madison Rayne vs. Mickie James: 2.8
Samoa Joe vs. The Pope: 6.3
Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez: 3.6
Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett: 7.5
Sting vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Mr. Anderson: 4.9
Fortune vs. Immortal: 7.1
Final Show Rating: 5.3 (Show rating is the average of the scores of the match.)

Final Show Thoughts: I’ll be the first to admit that I underrated TNA’s Lockdown PPV. It was much better than I had anticipated. Angle/Jarrett and Fortune/Immortal were the two high profile matches of the show. The X-Division Xscape and the 4-way tag matches were the work rate heavy matches of the night. Really, overall I was impressed with how TNA booked this and they pulled off a win here. Only problem I really have here is that every damn match was in a cage. Yeah, I get it that it was a gimmick PPV but every match in a cage is just too much. I’ll be waiting to see how Extreme Rules does and can’t wait to compare the two to see which PPV of this month was better.

That does it for me this week. I’ll see you guys next week, hopefully. Just remember one thing…