TNA Impact Wrestling presents Lockdown 2013, live from the Alamodome in San Antonio Texas. The main event for this evening is Jeff Hardy defending his title against Bully Ray. President of TNA Dixie Carter announcer earlier today that Lockdown is officially the biggest crowd in TNA's history. Here are the results and a review of the Lockdown pay per view.
Kenny King defeated Zema Ion and Christian York
TNA opened up their big TNA Lockdown pay per view with a triple threat match for the X-Division Championship. The design of this pay per view is reminiscent of WCW, when they started out their pay per views with lucha style wrestling. The bout was a mash up with some really good spots, and a few botched moments. It lacked any psychology and there was no time to give the wrestlers some character. It felt like three indy guys just wrestling around. On the upside, they all looked well. Given some adjustments and time to promote their personalities, they could be major players.
Joseph Park pinned Joey Ryan
Where the first match went wrong, the second match went right. Both Joseph Park and Joey Ryan were characters and knew how to play to the crowd. The match was basic and didn't need several false finishes. It was a perfect under card bout. The characters got the crowd off their chairs, and they were solidly behind Joseph Park. Park gets the win on Joey Ryan after sitting on his chest. Joey Ryan really shined and looks like a cross between "Leapin" Lanny Poffo and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. This match was a good example of what an under card bout should be.
Velvet Sky pinned Gail Kim
Velvet Sky started the match by going for some quick pins on Gail Kim. Has this ever worked? The girls move to the outside, where Kim is able to ram Velvet spine first into the ring post. Taz mentions that he thinks it might be Gail Kim's time of the month, which is vulgar and not funny. A completely off color remark and unprofessional. The match gets out of hand after the female referee goes after Gail Kim slapped her in the face. Velvet Sky gets the cheap win to retain her championship. This was typical women's fodder. The Knockouts Division is better than the WWE Divas, but still eye candy for the male viewers.
Robbie T. beat Robbie E.
The former friends start the match with a "hug it out" moment a la Kane and Daniel Bryan, but not as entertaining. Robbie T made it clear in the beginning that he could easily outpower his former friend Robbie E. The match served its purpose, but it could have been better. The Jersey Shore gimmick is the best thing to ever happen to Robbie T. Without the gimmick or Robbie E, he's bland and uninteresting. The crowd gave him a very mild reaction after the pin.
Aries and Roode defeated Bad Influence and Guerrero and Hernandez
Chavo and Hernandez are from Texas, and it doesn't take long for the hometown boys to get over on the heel tag teams in the match. A missile dropkick off the top rope takes down the muscled Mexican. Kazarian and Daniels show their team work, hitting multiple double team maneuvers. Chavo hits the Three Amigos suplex on everybody in the match, which was a neat little spot. Roode breaks up the suplex and now the heels put some stiff shots into Guerrero. After Chavo Guerrero gets bailed, the two heels teams start going at it to very little reaction from the crowd. Chavo makes the hot tag to Hernandez, who hits his opponents with a bevy of power moves. He hits a double back breaker on Aries and Kazarian, which elicited a good reaction from the live crowd. There was so much going on in the last five minutes, it was hard to keep track. A good hard fought match by all six men, with Roode and Aries retaining.
Wes Briscoe over Kurt Angle in a cage match
Angle starts the match off showing his amateur wrestling prowess. Wes comes back with a few sloppy shoulder tackles, only to have Angle get back on top with a back suplex. Briscoe is able to get an advantage over Angle and starts choking the Olympian with his t-shirt. Kurt Angle looks bigger than he has in the past. He hits his usual set of suplexes like the overhead belly to belly and a German suplex. Kurt goes for a frogsplash, which seemed out of place. He missed and Briscoe got back on top momentarily. Kurt Angle wins the match twice, but the ref was distracted both times. Interference from Aces and Eights allows Wes Briscoe to get the win in a mediocre cage match.
Team TNA defeat Aces and Eights in a Lethal Lockdown match
Mr. Anderson and Magnus start the Lethal Lockdown bout between Team TNA and the Aces and Eights stable. Magnus looks super impressive, especially in contrast to the out of shape Mr. Anderson. Up next to enter the cage is Knox. Knox is a throw back to men like the One Man Gang. Samoa Joe comes in next and takes out the Eights. Magnus and Joe stand tall, as the crowd reacts positively. Garrett Bischoff enters next and attacks the eyes of Magnus. The Texas crowd breaks out in a very loud "you can't wrestle" chant. Eric Young is the next to come to the ring. He's a house of fire and goes after the three Aces and Eights members. The six men square off with each other in separate parts of the cage, as Devon arrives. Fan favorite James Storm quickly follows suite, and he fires up on Devon and Mr. Anderson. The crowd is very hot for Storm. He hits the Last Call on Mr. Anderson. Doc is the last Aces and Eights member to come to the ring for the bout. The problem with these types of matches is how standard the entrances are. Every time a new competitor enters the ring, he does the same thing. Does a quick ambush on all his opponents, and then turns to kicks and punches on one side of the ring. Very generic and makes for some boring moments. Sting is last to enter the fray, with a huge pop from the crowd. Sting is carrying a trash can full of weapons, and anything goes. Sting hits all his opponents with the black baseball bat. The entire Team TNA use weapons to beat down Aces and Eights and stand tall, getting revenge for the months of backstage attacks. Aces and Eights are able to turn the tables after a tandem low blow, and now it's their turn to hand out the butt whipping. An amazing 5 man tower of doom spot elicits a loud thunderous reaction from the crowd. Eric Young gets the decisive win for Team TNA after a flying elbow drop from the top of the cage. The match was messy for most of the time, with a lot of punching and kicking. Other than the last 3 or 4 minutes, the match was largely forgettable. But, on the bright side, it didn't overshadow what should be a good main event.
Bully Ray pins Jeff Hardy to win the TNA Heavyweight Championship
Hardy comes to the ring with two championship belts, which is strange. Jeremy Borash does the honors of announcing the main event boxing style. Hardy gets the majority of the cheers from the fans. The two trade near falls in the beginning, with Bully Ray overpowering the slightly smaller Jeff Hardy. Bully Ray is able to gain an upper hand after knocking Hardy off the top rope and crotching the champion. This allows Ray to gain an advantage. Ray works Hardy's back with a bear hug. Bully Ray elevates Jeff Hardy high into the air with a back bodydrop. Jeff hits a Twist of Fate out of nowhere, and as he begins to climb to the top rope, Aces and Eights climb into the ring. Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy get rid of them and then go back to wrestling one another. Bully Ray hits a brutally nasty sit down powerbomb from the top rope that gets the crowd on their feet. Hulk Hogan and Brooke make their way to ringside and cheer on Bully Ray. As Aces and Eights interfere for a second time, Bully Ray finally excepts their help and club Hardy in the back of the skull. Hulk Hogan and Brooke react with astonishment on the outside, as the Aces and Eights celebrate in the ring.
Overall, this was one of TNA's best pay per views in a very long time. Finally, there is some movement in the Aces and Eights. Bully Ray wins the heavyweight championship and announces that he is the President of Aces and Eights. There were a couple of hiccups throughout the pay per view, but a very satisfying ending. The scene of the crowd throwing trash in the ring at Bully Ray and Aces and Eights was very strong, and will hopefully carry over onto Impact. Very good pay per view by TNA Wrestling.
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