Tuesday, April 17, 2012

4/15/12 Lockdown

Ratings:
Garett Bischoff, AJ Styles, Austin Aries, Mr. Anderson, & Rob Van Dam vs. Eric Bischoff, Bully Ray, Gunner, Christopher Daniels, & Kazarian (Lethal Lockdown): **1/2

Samoa Joe & Magnus vs. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley (Cage; Tag Team Titles): **

Devon vs. Robbie E (Cage; TV Title): *

Gail Kim vs. Velvet Sky (Cage; Knockouts Title): *3/4

Crimson vs. Matt Morgan (Cage): *1/2

Jeff Hardy vs. Kurt Angle (Cage): ***3/4

Eric Young & ODB vs. Sarita & Rosita (Cage; Knockouts Tag Team Titles): 1/2*

Bobby Roode vs. James Storm (Cage; World Title): ***1/4
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Reviews/Thoughts:
Usually, you can win any of these cage matches by pinfall, submission, or escape cage unless otherwise specified. An exception is Lethal Lockdown (described a bit below).

Storm segment from earlier in the day, packing up to head to Lockdown. They're in Storm country tonight.

And whoa, we start with the Bischoff Lethal Lockdown match! Team Garett huddles together. Garett wants to start. He wants to earn respect. Nice. I laughed when Aries wanted to go last. A-double is awesome.

Remember, if Team Garett wins, Eric Bischoff is gone and can no longer use the Bischoff name. If Eric's team wins, Garett is off the roster permanently. I guess we know who's winning now, but let's see how it pans out, yes?

Predictably, Gunner is out first. Again, Team Eric gets the advantage, so another Team Eric member enters after three minutes, then both teams alternate one extra member into the match until all ten guys are in the cage. Only after all ten guys in the ring (with weapons) do pins or submissions matter. Gunner beats Garett down for three minutes, and then Bully Ray enters. Ouch. Team Eric really frontloading with brawn in this one. Very methodical beatdown, and quite boring. Glad it's only five total minutes. Crowd wants Aries. WOOHOO, they get Aries! House of fire for A-double. Team Eric sends out Kaz -- new shaved head look -- as the third guy. Garett still getting nuked for eons now. Third guy for Team Garett is AJ Styles. He tags Kaz with the fist and the cage. Big stuff from Styles until Bully bowls him over. Again, heels mostly back on the offensive. Daniels is the fourth man out for Team Eric. Pretty clear Eric himself would have been last anyway. Gunner throws Garett like a dart into the cage. Pretty sure GB has gotten maybe 15 seconds of offense and gotten an asskicking the rest of the time.

Anderson is the fourth guy for Team Garett and comes out swinging. AJ showing major power by slamming Bully down. Kaz and Daniels take it out on AJ. Eric Bischoff comes out last for his team. Eric holds up his son as Bully tees off with those lethal chest slaps. Kaz kicks Garett square in the face. Reading the Riot Act to Garett. RVD out last for Team Garett, so all ten guys are in the ring. House of fire for RVD while Eric cowers in the corner. Anderson with his trademark pose, but no mic. The roof of weapons lowers instead! Goalie hockey stick, garbage can lids, guitars, etc. Garett is all busted up. AJ and Aries bring Eric in the hard way. RVD wants a five-star frog splash, but Gunner cuts it off. Aries thrown into the cage.

Kaz and AJ hang from the top of the cage. I think Kaz wanted to get to the top of the cage, but fell. AJ with the elbow drop and then RVD five-star frog splash. Bodies everywhere. Bully with a boot to AJ, Van Daminator to Bully. Angel's Wings to RVD. Daniels grabs Garett. Eric comes in the ring. Nice counter, perhaps a cutter (couldn't quite see) from Garett. Eric with kendo stick shots to his son. Garett rallies and hits a guitar shot on his dad to score the pin. It was fine, but just too scattered. Crowd reaction could have been way better.

Tag title match next. Feels weird to have a traditional tag match inside the cage. Not bad action, but crowd is pretty listless right now. Sabin got beat down good, but got the hot tag to Shelley. Magnus counters Sliced Bread #2. Sabin with a power bomb on Joe, wow. Magnus eats the steel. Shelley with a double foot stomp from the top, but Joe saves it. Joe eats the steel now. Guns with great double-team moves, but no dice. Joe with the choke on Sabin. Sliced Bread to Magnus, so Joe has to break that up. Why is the crowd NOT caring?!?! Oh right, it's TNA. Shelley nearly got three on a rollup. Sliced Bread countered. Joe takes out both Sabin and Shelley. Snapmare and flying elbow for three. Good, but crowd killed things.

TV Title match next. I actually forgot Devon won the title. Shows how much TNA cares about that belt. Title looks awesome, at least. Rob Terry refuses to get out of the cage, so Devon helps him. Nice to see Devon had cut all that weight from 1-2 years ago. Devon gets beat down early. Even Devon's comeback doesn't fire the crowd up. Spinebuster gets three for Devon. Rob Terry beats Devon down after the match.

Morgan doesn't care about the steak, he just wants revenge. The cage is a prison cell tonight. Great promo.

Knockouts title bout between Velvet and Gail. No releasing pigeons again from Velvet, and Taz is again disappointed. Madison accompanies Gail to the ring. Gail attacks from behind and we're underway. Velvet tries quick pins, to no avail. Gail missile dropkick from the top impresses Taz, but tough crowd tonight. Good submissions from Gail, working on the leg. Gail is doing what she can, although too many restholds for me. Gail is confident, then goes for that flying body attack in the corner, but meets the cage. The crowd sorta cared there. Velvet with the comeback. Nice sunset flip powerbomb from Velvet but only  two. Damn. Madison runs interference. Gail caught trying to escape, Velvet rolls up for two, then Gail gets her own rollup for three. Deflating, to say the least.

Flair in the ring. Hogan's music hits and Hulk arrives. Flair blames Hogan for ending Eric Bischoff's career. Flair is pissed and Hogan decks him. Well, that filler time was the most vocal the crowd's been all night. Flair snaps even more.

Time for Morgan and Crimson. Crimson tries to leave the cage but eats the steel. Morgan could walk out and win, but remember, MM wants revenge. Morgan chokeslam is countered and Crimson chop blocks Morgan's left leg. More basic, yet effective offense. Nice back suplex from Morgan. Crimson sandwiched between a flying Morgan and the cage. Morgan misses the carbon footprint. Crimson tries to escape over the top, but Morgan gets to him in time. Morgan crotched on the top. Morgan shifts his feet to get his foot caught in the ropes, so Crimson can just escape over the top. This could have been booked so much better. Good grief.

Finally, a match that should be a show-stealer. Angle and Hardy. Angle's right leg heavily taped, but he could deliver a killer match with two bad legs. Hardy thrown into the cage and Angle takes over. Hardy either hits big or crashes big. Crowd is the loudest it's been for any wrestling match so far. Hardy sends Angle into the cage and fights back. Whisper in the Wind gets two. How nice of Taz to finally realize Hardy's Twist of Fate now looks like a stunner. Hardy to the top, Angle catches him with an Angle Slam from the top! Sweet. Very close near fall. Front few rows on the camera side are standing. Angle wants to escape over the top, but Jeff gets to him. Hardy now escaping. Angle gets the leg, but Hardy tosses him off. Hardy jumps back into a variation of a frog splash for two. Never saw that before. Crowd FINALLY is into it. This is indeed awesome. Hardy almost out the door, but ankle lock. Jeff counters into an ankle lock of his own! Countered out. Twist of Fate again! Swanton from the top rope! A second one! WTF ONLY TWO?!?! Unreal. Angle lured Hardy in and sent Jeff into the cage. Angle Slam, but only two! Angle pissed. Angle Slam countered...and HARDY hits an Angle Slam! Shirt's off. Super Swanton from the top of the cage for three!

Knockouts tag titles now on the line. Sarita and Rosita tried to tempt EY during the wedding on Impact, not it didn't work. ODB and EY wearing Predators NHL jerseys for a cheap pop. EY is still nutso. ODB bowls both Sarita and Rosita over to start. EY wants to be the ref! ODB gets beaten down and the temptresses try to woo EY. ODB's not happy and fights back. Don't think EY was ever legally in the match. Just a flat match...again.

World title match finishes the show. Storm out first, and he comes out in his truck. He takes a six pack of beer bottles to the ring. Crowd is happy, but they're not going completely nuts. Roode out next. The belt is super lengthy....

Storm doesn't wait. They fight outside the cage. RR into the steps. Still not officially underway as Storm continues the assault. Storm misses with the chair and RR fights back. Still outside the cage. Storm's busted open, and they finally get inside the ring. Storm's wife is in the crowd.

Storm doesn't stop the intensity, wanting RR to hit him. RR gets the better of the deal and extends the beatdown. Insulting slap to Storm in the corner. Storm enraged now. Here we go! Eye of the Storm countered. Storm still gets a back sweep, catapulting RR into the cage. RR meets the steel again. Storm gets the Eye of the Storm this time, but only two. RR out of nowhere with the RR spinebuster for two. Crowd still too quiet for me. This is a damn world title match, fellas!

RR meets the turnbuckle. Codebreaker and backstabber-like moves for two. Desperate move by RR, elevating Storm into the cage. RR wants to escape through the door, but Storm has the foot. RR great job with the crossface! They roll into the ropes. Both guys on the top rope. Storm's head goes into the cage. RR tries to go over the top but Storm gets him. More trading punches on the top, then they ram each other's heads into the cage. One more cage shot and RR is down. Storm going over the top, but he changes his mind. Tenay and Taz say RR may have flipped him off or something. Super Codebreaker move from the top!

Storm warms the leg up for Last Call. Brian Hebner eats the kick instead. RR at the door, telling Earl Hebner to give him a beer bottle. Earl obliges. RR nukes Storm with it. RR yells at Earl to get in the ring to count the slow three. One, two...NO! WHAT?! Thought it was over. RR is stunned. Crowd was somewhat surprised, but I swear they're all hibernating except for Storm's cheering section.

Last Call superkick! But note that RR rolls closer to the cage door. Another Last Call sends Roode out the door. Unfortunately, that means Roode retains because he "escaped" the cage.

Roode continues to win by controversial means. I like that he's still champ, since he's got amazing heel momentum, but come on. At a certain point, he has to win clean or lose by some means. Hopefully, this means another rematch down the road somehow.

I do NOT want Sting to be the one dethroning Roode for the title. I think it's acceptable that Sting ultimately plays a hand in costing Roode the gold, but I would like Storm to come out on top in the end. Perhaps that'll be at Slammiversary -- their version of WrestleMania.

The PPV overall was not that great. The crowd was mostly dead. The two best matches were predictable to pick. Lethal Lockdown was fine, but again could have been better. Then again, a lot could have been better here. *3/4

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