AVFR #87: TNA Lockdown - A reView From the Rafters

[Stinger]

Welcome wrestling fans to a very special eighty-seventh edition of A View From the Rafters with me, Stinger, coming to you just days after the 86th column. The reason for that is, as you could no doubt tell from the banner, this is A reView From the Rafters, featuring a review of TNA Lockdown which concluded just a little over an hour and a half ago. This is actually my first time doing a pay-per-view review for a column, so we'll see how it turns out. I will of course be rating the matches using a standard star ratings scale tweaked just a bit. That is to say that the ratings are based on stars, 0 through 5. Instead of using stars though, I'm just using the actual number as the representative of the rating. I judge the match and my "assistant" holds up the sign with the rating on it. Think back to 1995 with Diamond Dallas Page and the Diamond Doll. The scale is as listed below.

0 = 0 stars = DUD, a horrible match.
1 = 1 star = A bad match.
2 = 2 stars = An okay match.
3 = 3 stars = A decent to good match.
4 = 4 stars = A great match.
5 = 5 stars = CLASSIC, an excellent match.

Got it? Good, on with the review then.


Pre-show Match: Eric Young vs. Danny Bonaduce - Short and exactly what most folks should have expected, just a bad match. At least TNA made the decision weeks ago to realize this match was going to suck and put it on the pre-show instead. If this match would have aired on the pay-per-view portion, it would have been an unnecessary eyesore that would bring down the event a tad. Eric Young won, then after a handshake, was attacked by Bonaduce. Rhino made the save for Young, giving Dangerous Danny a GORE, GORE, GORE!
Match Rating:



(NOTE: Because this match aired for free on the pre-show, it's rating will have no bearing on the overall event score.)

Dixie Carter is quite hot though, so there's a pre-show plus. We're skipping the rest of the uneventful pre-show, and going right into the PPV event.

TNA Presents: Lockdown 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009 LIVE from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Team 3D opened the event with a pre-recorded promo out in Philly talking about tag team domination that was quite good. TNA's Lockdown intro video was very well done and really did a great job of hyping two of the three big matches. Great video package that succeeded in pumping me up for the event to come.


Match #1: X-Division Championship Xscape Match: Suicide (C) vs. Kiyoshi vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir vs. Black Machismo vs. Consequences Creed - This match was pretty boring for the most of it, it picked up a bit once it was down to three, and then even more so once it was just Suicide and Bashir. You would think this would have been a fun spot-fest, but it wasn't. There was really only one stand out spot that ended up being the finish of the match. Suicide was on top of the cage, while Bashir was crawling to the door. Suicide saw this, stood up on top of the cage, and dove off on top of Kiyoshi and security to pick up the win in 11:35. Crowd was pretty dead for the match too, for the most part, but they popped big for the finish. The last few minutes saved this match, and since our ratings round up, received a little higher than it otherwise would have.
Match Rating:



Match #2: Queen of the Cage Match: Madison Rayne vs. Sojourner Bolt vs. Daffney vs. ODB - Man, it's so awesome to have Daffney back on television and as Daffney, not as a Sarah Palin parody. Daffney came out to the ring looking oh so hot. It was ruined by ODB's entrance, accompanied by Cody Deaner. Sojourner Bolt sucks, I don't know why they ever let her wrestle. The star of this match was easily Daffney, who should definitely get a push towards the Knockouts Championship sometime in the near future. Match was pretty short, but then it was the first of two womens matches. Pretty fun while it lasted, for a Knockouts match. To no ones surprise, ODB won in a little over six minutes.
Match Rating:



Match #3: New Japan Jr. Tag Team Championship Match: Motor City Machine Guns (C) vs. No Limit vs. LAX - Those IWGP Jr. Titles look horrid, cheap and small, but whatever. It's nice to see a promotion that actually has tag teams and features them on a pay-per-view, unlike a certain other promotion. The Motor City Machine Guns are a fantastic tag-team, probably the best in TNA at the moment, and they really shined here. And for the first time in a TNA ring, No Limit looked pretty good as well. This was a pretty fast paced matched, which wasn't surprising, but more so than the Xscape Match that opened the show. It was Tornado rules, meaning all six men were in the cage at the same time, so no need for tagging in and out. A couple of nice spots helped make it memorable, specifically Sabin doing a legdrop off the top of the cage at the same time Shelly did a splash from the top. The Guns won to retain their titles in almost 12 minutes. Best match of the night at this point. Good stuff.
Match Rating:



Match #4: Doomsday Chamber of Blood Match: Abyss vs. Matt Morgan - This isn't a knock on these two, but the audience just couldn't care less, a running theme for this event. The crowd has been dead all night. This match wasn't "First Blood", instead you had to make your opponent bleed in order to be eligible to go for a pinfall attempt. Abyss bladed good, as he had some nice juice coming out of his head and under his mask. Morgan dumped broken glass in the ring and tried to shove Abyss' face into it, but couldn't. The blood dripping off of Abyss' face onto the glass was a cool visual though. Abyss, by Dr. Stevie's orders, wasn't going to use a weapon in the match, but near the end he finally went for a steel chair. This prompted Dr. Stevie to finally be revealed as Stevie Richards, to which the announcers acted really shocked, making TNA look completely stupid in the process. This all led a lame ending with Stevie taking the chair from Abyss and them slapping him repeatedly. Morgan slammed Abyss into thumbtacks, as Richards was walking up the ramp, to pick up the victory in almost 13 minutes. Someone tell TNA that eventually Abyss is going to need a victory in this feud. Decent match until the lame ending.
Match Rating:



Match #5: TNA Knockouts Championship Match: Awesome Kong (C) vs. Angelina Love vs. Taylor Wilde - The second women's match of the night. This match actually had sufficient build, with Angelina Love guaranteeing victory and angering Kong and Wilde with the whole hair cutting gimmick the Beautiful People have been doing for the last few weeks. These three ladies worked hard for the time they were giving, some good action all the way throughout. Awesome Kong woke the crowd up momentarily and drew a HOLY SHIT chant when she climbed to the top rope and flipped off of it, only to miss her flipping splash attempt on Angelina Love. For a woman of her size, it was indeed a sight to see. Crazy spot. Love and Sky took Kong out by tying her braided hair together through the cage, which was quite unique to the say least. Love turned around and was hit with a flying cross body from the top rope by Wilde, and Love's head hit the mat hard and she was clearly out of it. Pretty scary because she has a history of concussions. Love made a slow roll up to pin Taylor Wilde to win the Knockouts Championship, but she wasn't all there for sure and Wilde looked concerned for her. Good match though, not quite 7 minutes.
Match Rating:



Match #6: TNA & IWGP Tag Team Championship Street Fight Match: Beer Money Inc. (C) vs. Team 3D (C) - This was one of the heavily hyped and well built matches, and the crowd finally came alive. Fun brawl, the cage door was open for this match, so the two teams were allowed to go all over the arena and fight in the crowd, which is probably why the crowd was way into it. Brother Ray hit an awesome looking Bubba Bomb from the top rope on Robert Roode, which Roode oversold by bouncing high off the mat. Oversold, but still sweet looking. Of course TNA missed the near-fall, which Don West was acting like it was the most amazing kick out ever, by showing two full-screen replays of the Bubba Bomb. Team 3D did the whole "Whassup?" thing, and then let the crowd yell at Devon to "get the tables". James Storm accidentally slammed the cage door into Roode's face, who was then given a 3D through a table. Team 3D won in over 15 minutes, making them 22 time Tag Team Champions. Good match, fun brawl, and both teams looked impressive but Beer Money was made to look really strong throughout.
Match Rating:



Match #7: Lethal Lockdown Match: Jeff Jarrett, A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, & Christopher Daniels vs. Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Booker T, & Scott Steiner - Angle and Daniels started the match and gave us a really good five minutes of just the two of them. It's so great having Daniels back as himself, and not doing a silly comedy routine. Once the first 5 minutes were up, Booker T entered and then a new competitor entered every two minutes until all eight men were in the cage. The Lethal Lockdown portion began when they were all in the ring, and the cage top with weapons dangling from it was lowered on top of the cage. Angle and Styles fought on top of the cage for a little while, and it was a cool visual. Styles did a crazy ass dive from the top of the cage through a hole in the middle of the roof, and he wasn't caught very well at all, but he didn't appear hurt. Scott Steiner looked good throughout the match, even busting out the FRANKENSTEINER, which I haven't seen in many years. After Jarrett accidentally hit Styles with a chair, Don West began pushing that Jarrett was with MEM to the point where you immediately knew he wasn't. After pointing the guitar at Styles, Jarrett nailed Booker T with it and AJ made the pinfall, finally giving the Frontline their victory over the Mafia. Good match, and I always love the War Games style match.
Match Rating:



Afterwards, the lights went out and some music with a engine revving up began playing, and out walked Bobby Lashley wearing a suit. Kurt Angle was smiling, Jarrett looked concerned and the announcers were pushing that Lashley was aligned with the Main Event Mafia. Don't be so sure though, as prior to coming out for Lethal Lockdown, Samoa Joe was seen backstage talking with a mystery person. Could be Lashley, could be someone to debut later, like say Taz (who would make a wonderful manager for Joe). Not Lashley's biggest fan, but nevertheless it was cool to see him again and I think TNA is the best place for him at this point.


Match #8: TNA World Championship Match: Sting (c) vs. Mick Foley - TNA had done a excellent job of building to this match for a month, easily the best built TNA match up in a long time. As such, this match had a lot of hype surrounding it, and unfortunately it just wasn't able to live up to that hype. This match was slow and just prodding along. There were no big spots, which while understandable, was a bit of a letdown since Foley had pretty much guaranteed that he was going to do something crazy. Still though, the match was good, not great, and it was cool to see Sting wielding Foley's barbed-wire baseball bat. Both men bled, of course, and there were a few cool moments like when Foley slid-kicked the cameraman through the hole in the cage, to try and climb out of the camera hole. The ending appeared a little botched, because the timing appeared to be off. It was suppose to be a suspenseful moment, as both men were trying to climb over the cage and hit the floor, yet Foley had more than enough lead over Sting to where there was no way, short of dropping from the top, that Sting was going to be able to win. So that appeared to be off just a bit, and killed what could have been a suspenseful finish. I really didn't think Foley would win the match and the TNA Championship, so consider me surprised there. Overall a good match, but still a bit of disappointment, although these guys aren't exactly spring chickens anymore.
Match Rating:



Overall Thoughts: This was a good event, probably even above average for a TNA event. It wasn't great by any stretch, but there wasn't anything bad about it, which I feared there would be numerous backstage segments that would suck. Thankfully the few segments backstage were good and relevant towards the event. Two really good matches, and the others were decent to good as well, so that's a win in my book. I'll be watching Impact again this Thursday, and I'm actually looking forward to seeing more of Bobby Lashley and what he ends up doing. TNA is in a pretty good position right now, and if they could focus and eliminate some of their problems, they'd be near their best level in a few years. TNA needs to quit giving away tickets though, as the dead crowd hurt the feel of this event.
Overall Rating:

And that brings us to the end of this eighty-seventh edition of AVFR and the first ever A reView From the Rafters. Not something that is going to be done often, but I was looking forward to this event and it was my first TNA PPV in a while, so might as well use it for something. Number 88 will be out on Friday or Saturday, probably Saturday but I'm not sure. Hopefully you enjoyed my first review column, if not, hey it was something new for me. Until next time, this has been Stinger with A View From the Rafters.

- Stinger

[Andy_Savana]

Who is the women holding up the ratings? She is very cute.

Lashley in TNA almost makes me interested since I was wishing he would return to the WWE for a short period.

[Blackwell]

If I'm not mistaken, isn't that Zooey Deschanel from "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy"?

And to be on topic, good review.

[MissouriDragon]

^Damn man, I know it's a TNA review, but no need for spam DVD sellers in the feedback.

I saw this too, and you covered it well, but I thought Hernandez was the stand-out in that 6-man. Daffney definitely carried her match, and I laughed, rather hard in fact, at AJ's dive to nowhere. 3D really was fishing for pops in that match-it would have been better in Orlando.

Highlight was definitely Kong going for the swanton and then getting her hair tied up in the cage. One of the better ways to stop her that I've ever seen.

Zooey looks like someone just dropped an ice cube down the back of her shirt in the ratings pic.

[Captain Awesome]

Although I'm not a TNA fan in the least, this review held my interest and was written well. It's good you focused on your opinion rather than just giving a recap of the match. Well done!

[enigmatic]

Great review and even more important great to see Zooey. That girl is my goddess.

[Leonard]

Hey Stinger:

Thanks for the nice opinion piece on TNA's latest Pay-Per-View offering. Much like "Extreme Rules" night, I never imagined that an all steel cage card could ever really work. You did rate it as average, at least, so I guess there is some hope for the promotion after all. I've always DVR-ed TNA Impact!, but never get around to watching it, and end up deleting it. This generally positive review makes me think I should check out the product again. Another solid outing here. I look forward to the next one, sir.

--Leonard

[Cult Icon]

good review man, really held my interest and has convinced me to maybe check out the ppv once its on dvd or w/e. i also agree w the statement that daffney is hot and needs to be knockout champion very very soon. good effort dude.

[NightofDay]

This was definitely an interesting read. I'm keeping my thoughts on Foley becoming champion later today because I feel a rant coming on when I talk about it. Lashley's debut actually surprised me for once when it comes to TNA, considering Lashley is busy with MMA and many people thought it would be Tazz (or Taz whatever).

Looking forward to the next one. I hope you realise that you're inching closer to #100 on your columns?

[Stinger]

Andy - Zooey Deschanel, and yes she is. Thanks for reading.

Blackwell - Indeed, and thank you.

MissouriDragon - Heh, don't you just hate spambots? You know, I agree that Hernandez was pretty impressive in that tag match, for sure. Thanks for reading and leaving feedback.

Capt. Awesome - Glad it held your interest. Thanks!

enigmatic - Appreciate it. She's my goddess too!

Leo - Thank you very much, and yeah, you should definitely check out the TNA product again. Impact is getting better, but there is still too little wrestling on the program.

Cult Icon - You should definitely check out the DVD when it is released. It's easily worth $15. Appreciate the comments, and great Daffney sig there.

NightofDay - Thanks, and sure, I realize I'm getting closer to #100, although I haven't paid any mind to it and probably won't until I finish #99. Thanks for reading.