Now that I’ve had time to live down that Destination X fuckery, let’s get back in the saddle with Lockdown 2005!
Lockdown is such a Dusty Rhodes type concept, I can only imagine he was the one who hatched the idea for this PPV. Of course, Lethal Lockdown is just a thinly veiled copy of War Games, so there’s that.
The opening video package for this PPV is way darker than previous PPVs. They’re trying to put over the horror of wrestling inside the cage. I don’t know. Every wrestling company pushes matches involving cages as being particularly brutal and career shortening but it’s pretty 50/50 on if they live up to that hype. Something like Undertaker vs. Mankind is about as brutal as it gets, but for every one of those, there’s at least five cage, cell and chamber matches that aren’t particularly brutal. I think I’d take wrestling in a cage over wrestling a ladder match or something like that personally.
Anyways, I feel like on the previous PPV when they mentioned Lockdown, they said there would be two cage matches on this show. Which I thought was odd. Obviously I misheard them or they changed their minds because, as I figured it would be, all matches are going to be inside the six sides of steel.
The opener is Chris Candido and Lance Hoyt against Apolo and Sonny Siaki. I mentioned how a lot of wrestlers had cover themes a few shows back and I think I hear another one here as Apolo and Sonny Siaki enter to what sounds like a remix of “Smooth” by Rob Thomas and Santana.
I don’t really know why Hoyt and Candido are teaming, but Tenay does mention Hoyt recruiting Candido. That’s good enough for me. Literally three moves into the match, a dropkick by Siaki goes wrong that breaks Candido’s leg. So, Candido has to be removed from the match. This injury would require surgery which would lead to him getting pneumonia and dying at the age of 33. That shit is so tragic. As Candido is being taken out, West tries to use that as an example of how brutal the cage can be. Wut? This injury was a freak accident that had nothing to do with the cage. Anyways, the match had to be changed on the fly. It was fairly short and unimpressive, but you can’t really blame them for that. Siaki and Apolo win and The Naturals (Candido’s boys) come out to belittle and attack Hoyt for the loss.
Next we’re getting Bobby Roode vs. Dustin Rhodes. The basis of this feud is very basic. It’s pretty much just a matter of Rhodes being fed up with Team Canada and the two of them fighting for respect. I like the sound of this match until they bring up it’s a 2 out of 3 Falls “Prince of Darkness Deathmatch”. Somebody should fire Dusty already. Or Vince Russo. Or both. Please. The stipulation in this match is that if it goes to a third fall, it becomes a blindfold match. Maybe I should see how it plays out before burying it.
The interesting thing is that they still call Roode the muscle of Team Canada despite the fact they now have the bigger and more muscular Alistair Ralphs on the squad. But I take it that him getting this singles match here is a sign that he is being groomed to be the breakout singles star of the group. Anywho. Roode gets the first fall about one minute in, using the ropes for leverage. The second fall feels like it drags a bit. Roode is definitely being put over though, as he is mostly dominating Dustin. Rhodes gets the second fall by hitting a bulldog off the top rope. They bring out some hoods to cover the competitors’ heads as Tenay explains: “It’s called a Prince of Darkness match because there’s no way that you can see out of them”. Well, thank you for making that perfectly clear. The name still doesn’t make any actual sense. But anyways. They feign blindness. Dustin decks referee Rudy Charles on accident. Scott D’Amore throws a chair into the ring, and then comes into the cage himself. Roode grabs the chair and swings, but he thwacks D’Amore in the back. Roode drops the chair because he thinks he got Rhodes, but Rhodes picks up the chair and nails Roode in the head. He pins Roode as Cassidy Riley runs down to wake up the referee in time for him to make the count and give Rhodes the W. I hate that I have to constantly question this shit, but what is with the ref bump in a match that is called the “Prince of Darkness DEATHMATCH”? It’s just needlessly overcomplicated.
Next is the X-Division Xscape Match with Matt Bentley, Sonjay Dutt, Shocker and Chris Sabin. This is an elimination style match where the first two competitors have to be taken out by pin or submission, at which point the final two fight it out and the only way to win is by escaping the cage. Ok, I can manage that. TNA clearly thought they had something with Shocker. I don’t know if they ever saw him as a major long term star or just thought maybe he’d be their key to breaking into the Meixcan market, but the way they debuted him last month and they way Tenay is putting him over here, they are definitely trying to make him out to be a big(ger) deal (than he actually was). I love when they’re talking about Shocker’s alleged worldwide popularity and Tenay mentions his spot in the McDonald’s commercial and West goes “how big does it get!?”. That’s as big as it gets, Don. Tom Cruise only WISHES he could land a McDonald’s gig. And I’m sure Shocker was feeling pretty good about himself too because he had been featured in a McDonald’s commercial, joined TNA, and also jumped from CMLL to AAA all in a pretty short window. I certainly respect the hustle.
This match is pretty much the definition of flippy shit. Michael Shane is the only guy whose offense is very fundamental and I don’t think it’s because he’s a purist, I just don’t think he’s as athletic or flashy as the others. Sonjay goes out first at the hands of Shocker. The match proceeds on and with really nothing to prompt it, Trinity (who is Shane’s valet now apparently) climbs the cage. Traci runs out (remember she’s feuding with Trinity over Dusty (Christ)) and tries to stop her but Trinity kicks her off. Then Trinity gets on top of the cell and does a fucking moonsault off of it onto all three men. I… did not see that coming. Props to Trinity because I assumed she was pretty much useless physically. Traci gets in the cage and there’s a whole scuffle. In the commotion, Shane gets eliminated. That leaves just Shocker and Sabin who fight over the top of the cage and have a “photo finish” fall to the floor. Shocker hits first and he’s the winner. Eh.
My main takeaways from this are that Trinity is more of a badass than I thought and Shocker’s theme is a cover of “Whatever” by Godsmack.
Moving on, and it’s gonna be Raven vs. Jeff Hardy in a Tables Match. Somewhere, at some point in time, I would have said this is a good match-up. But at this particular point in time, Raven has been stinking up the joint and Jeff Hardy is not exactly capturing my imagination either. This match has plenty of painful looking shit but there’s no psychology whatsoever. Both guys put themselves through a table at some point in this match but it doesn’t count because your opponent has to put you through (which is the only logical way to do a tables match imo). At one point Jeff climbs up the cage for literally no reason other than to do some high risk shit and Raven knocks him down where he racks his crotch on the cage door. There’s some more brawling and then Raven starts stacking tables up. He gets four tables set up… two tables wide and two tables tall. A configuration that Don describes as a pyramid. Raven tries to super back suplex Hardy through them but Hardy counters and knocks Raven down onto them and then hits a leg drop off the top of the cage to get the win. What I can’t figure is how Raven is about to become champ in a couple of months after his recent PPV performances which have been shitty and mostly losses.
Now building on the Team Canada vs. rednecks angle, the next match is AMW vs. Eric Young and Petey Williams inside the six sides of steel (although the match graphic showed Eric Young and Alistair Ralphs). AMW and Team Canada have had some bangers, but it’s never been this combination for Team Canada, so I’m interested to see how it goes. Right off the bat they explain that AMW campaigned to make this a strap match because evidently no one is content to just have a regular fucking cage match even though the cage is allegedly the most brutal structure imaginable. Chris Harris spends a good deal of this match outside the cage, trying to fight off A1 while James Storm just gets murdered by Petey and EY. Eventually he does so, and he comes in like a house of fire. There are lots of false finishes, which is kind of typical for a TNA Tag Team Championship match. Team Canada continues to “cheat” by using the hockey stick and trying to use the powder to blind AMW, which is definitely typical of Team Canada. I put the quotes because it’s a fucking strap match inside a cage, how can you cheat really? Anyways, the powder backfires and Petey gets it in his own eyes. Since he can’t see he accidentally hits EY with the Canadian Destroyer. AMW then hit Petey with The Death Sentence to win and retain their titles. A decent match, but it could have been better without the overbooking. And to be clear, the overbooking has actually helped these matches in the past. But here, it was just a bit too much considering the circumstances.
Finally a more scientific battle as Christopher Daniels defends the X-Division Championship against his old Triple X running buddy Elix Skipper. After all the over the top shit this show has had so far, Daniels’ methodic style of offense is very welcome. We get a lot of aerial shots throughout this match which shows the canvas of the ring in dire shape. There’s blood, body paint, power… That thing is ruined. These guys go back and forth for a good while before Daniels hits The Angel’s Wings to pick up the win. Match of the night so far for me.
Now it’s time for the first ever Lethal Lockdown match. For those unfamiliar, this is a pseudo-War Games match where two teams enter at timed intervals. Only when all the participants enter can a pin or submission be made. Wrestlers bring the weapons. That’s pretty much it. Earlier in the night we learned Nash would be unable to compete due to staph infection. So it’ll be Diamond Dallas Page, Sean Waltman and a mystery partner (if they have one) against Jeff Jarrett, Monty Brown and The Outlaw. We also learned during some earlier segments that Jarrett and Waltman were gonna start things out and The Outlaw would be the third man out, giving Team Jarrett the advantage because that’s how Lethal Lockdown/War Games tends to go.
Waltman comes out and as Jarrett is making his way down, Waltman jumps him on the ramp to start the match. So this thing starts with a brawl in the crowd. They finally get in the ring with 2 minutes to go until The Outlaw shows up. I want to highlight what Waltman is wearing. Everyone is in street clothes, but Waltman in particular looks goofy because he’s dressed like he’s going to the club, only he’s wearing these plastic knee pads like a carpenter would. He’s also wrestling as sloppy as anyone I’ve ever seen. Everyone makes their way out. The Outlaw, then DDP, then Monty Brown. The clock keeps counting as the commentators speculate if there is a third man. And yes, there is. It’s BG James who comes in so hot he ends up taking out a cameraman and referee Rudy Charles! There’s a point where BG has the chance to take out The Outlaw but he hesitates due to their history. Monty Brown dominates a lot of the action from here on out but actually ends up being the guy to take the pin. Waltman beats him with a victory roll. Boy if that ain’t an unspectacular way to end the match… All in all, a decent match. Not bad, not really good. Just decent. I think it’s bullshit that Brown took the pin here though. Before last month’s completely uncalled for and tonedeaf heel turn, he had more momentum than any of these guys. I know you want to keep The Outlaw somewhat protected due to him being newly debuted and heading for what they seem to think is a big time storyline with BG and the 3 Live Kru, and of course Jarrett is your champ, but you could have had either guy take the loss here and used it as ammo for their next storylines. Ah well. The Alpha Male was nice while he lasted.
We’ve made it to the main event. It’ll be AJ Styles vs. Abyss to determine a number one contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. A little bit odd to me to put this match in the main event over Lethal Lockdown, just considering the stakes and the competitors of the two matches. But when you consider the match quality, you certainly can’t argue with it. This one is full throttle from the start. AJ Styles has brought his bumping boots to the show tonight. He’s just flying all over the place as they begin the match brawling around ringside and into the crowd. Styles gets busted open, as Abyss savagely slams the cage door into his face multiple times. Inside the ring, Styles is looking like death as Abyss just beats him from pillar to post. And I mean that pretty literally. AJ counters a military press into a DDT on a chain, but he still hasn’t slowed “The Monster” down enough. He hits an enziguri and tilt-a-whirl headscissors to follow up. He goes for, I believe, that moonsault into the reverse DDT move, but he’s off target and he just kind of bounces off Abyss so they move on to the next spot. Abyss charges Styles in the corner, but Styles dodges it and Abyss rams head first into a steel chair wedged in the corner. Styles then grabs Abyss and hits an unbelievable German suplex. I think he intends to do a bridging pin, but he can’t quite do that so he just does a regular cover for two. Styles appears to go for the Styles Clash but Abyss escapes and he hits Styles with a Black Hole Slam. Styles kicks out which is pretty surprising in all honesty. Abyss says enough of this shit and pours the trusty thumbtacks out. Abyss tries a Black Hole Slam onto the tacks, but Styles avoids it. He manages to fight Abyss and get the big man up for a Styles Clash (or at least as close as he could manage) onto the tacks! The fans eat that up and there are some great reaction shots around the Impact Zone. Styles tries to cover but Abyss kicks out. Styles heads to the top of the cage, so Abyss gets creative and lobs the referee into the cage, causing Styles to fall abdomen-first on the top of the cage. Abyss grabs his chain and scales the cage. He wraps the cage around Styles’ neck and hangs him with it a bit. Styles fights through it and dives over the top, hitting a sunset flip powerbomb on Abyss, who hits the tacks with a major impact. If this was 2020, there would be a “HOLY SHIT!” chant here for sure. Styles makes the cover and picks up the win on “The Monster”. Wow!
Hell of a showing from AJ Styles and major props to Abyss as well for playing his role perfectly and taking two devastating plunges onto the thumbtacks. This is easily a top three match out of all the PPVs I’ve watched so far. It is without question the best singles match because the only other matches I would potentially rank over it would be the AMW vs. Triple X Six Sides of Steel from Turning Point and AMW vs. Team Canada from Final Resolution. And it might top those really. In fact, I’ll go ahead and say this is the best match so far on these PPVs.
To wrap things up here, I would say Lockdown was a complete success. I felt that the added gimmicks throughout the night got old fast, but aside from that, there isn’t a whole lot I can complain about from an action standpoint. Booking? Questionable. But I never got bored while watching the show. Most of the matches either had enough nonsense going on that it kept my attention, or were actually physical enough to be strong matches. I wouldn’t rewatch a lot of this show, but even so, matches like the Xscape Match, AMW vs. Team Canada and Daniels vs. Skipper were plenty entertaining enough to sustain me before we got to the amazing main event. This show was a dramatic improvement over Destination X. DRAMATIC. Not that I ever had much doubt but this show just goes to prove that TNA at this stage is at its best when the spotlight is on their homegrown talent. The more heavily featured that guys like Styles, Daniels, Abyss, Brown, AMW, Team Canada and the X Division are… the better your show is going to be. Conversely, if there’s too much Jarrett, Nash, Hall, Page, 3LK and Waltman… you’re in for a long night.
P.S. you can watch this whole show on YouTube.
Top 5 TNA PPV matches
1. AJ Styles vs. Abyss - Lockdown 2005
2. America’s Most Wanted vs. Triple X - Turning Point 2004
3. America’s Most Wanted vs. Team Canada - Final Resolution 2005
4. Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles - Against All Odds 2005
5. Chris Sabin vs. AJ Styles vs. Petey Williams - Final Resolution 2005
Styles hits Daniels with his own signature move, The Angel’s Wings, but Daniel just barely kicks out. West can’t believe this shit. AJ Styles is able to get a surprise roll up on Daniels to even the score shortly after. Daniels flips his lid and throws Styles into the ring post and then starts bashing him with punches and headbutts until Styles is bleeding out everywhere. Styles has been selling his ass off all match long. Daniels wants to hit Styles with The Angel’s Wings but Styles is so beaten, he can’t even get up. When the clock goes down to one minute remaining, Styles suddenly unloads with a fiery comeback but Daniels cuts him short with an STO, transitioned into a Koji Clutch. Styles is dying in the clutch WrestleMania 13 style, blood and all. Styles definitely passes out before time expires, but the referee doesn’t call it and the match ends tied up 1-1. Daniels isn’t having that and he demands sudden death overtime, which Dusty Rhodes grants him. Well Daniels surely has this one in the bag right? Not so fast. Styles counters out of a top rope frankensteiner and hits a flying hurricanrana on Daniels, rolls through and lifts Daniels up to deliver a Styles Clash. He rolls Daniels over for the pin and he gets the 1-2-3 to win it in overtime! Wouldn’t go as far as to call it an instant classic, but it’s definitely worthy of a lot of praise. I love watching both of these guys at this point in their careers.
