411 PPV Preview: The Road to TNA Lockdown 2009

TNA presents its fifth installment of the Lockdown PPV from the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Doomsday Chamber of Blood Match
Matt Morgan vs. Abyss

Lowdown: The Abyss vs. Matt Morgan feud will come to a head this Sunday in one of the most violent ways possible – the Doomsday Chamber of Blood Match. As with every match at Lockdown, it will take place inside the Six Sides of Steel, however in order to pin or submit your opponent you must make them bleed first. After Morgan’s betrayal, Abyss took the upper hand in the feud at Against All Odds when he pinned Morgan in a singles match. The ante was upped the next month at Destination X as the two signed to face each other in a gruesome Match of 10,000 Tacks, from which Morgan emerged victorious. Both men have a win to their name and the rubber match will go down at Lockdown. Morgan blamed Abyss for their inability to capture tag team gold when they were partners. Abyss wants revenge for Morgan’s betrayal and subsequent harsh treatment of himself and his “girlfriend” Lauren. Only one will emerge victorious from Lockdown.

Prediction: It has been said that Matt Morgan is Dixie Carter’s “pet project” and that is clear in the push that he has received, so it seems like he’ll get the rub of coming out of a feud with Abyss on top, with Abyss’ loss causing him to weaken mentally and side with the equally deranged newcomer Daffney. Morgan wins.

Likely to be Match of the Night? No.

IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship Match
No Limit vs. Motor City Machine Guns (c) vs. Latin American Exchange

Lowdown: In one of the most exciting prospects of Lockdown, the cocky Motor City Machine Guns of Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin will defend their IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship against the anti-American No Limit of Naito and Yujiro and the “Feast or Fired” briefcase holding Latin American Exchange of Homicide and Hernandez. This past Thursday’s Impact saw a Lockdown preview when Chris Sabin, Homicide and Naito faced off in a triple threat match, with Homicide earning the win following a Gringo Cutter from the top rope on Naito. LAX has the momentum, but inside the deadly Six Sides of Steel, this is anyone’s game.

Prediction: I see no reason for the Machine Guns to lose the straps. Shelley and Sabin retain.

Likely to be Match of the Night? Yes.

Queen of the Cage Match
ODB vs. Madison Rayne vs. Daffney vs. Sojournor Bolt

Lowdown: The Queen of the Cage Match makes its return to Lockdown, featuring fan favourite ODB, Beautiful People accomplice Madison Rayne, the deranged Daffney and the tough-as-nails former Kongtourage member Sojournor Bolt.

Prediction: A PPV match with absolutely zero buildup? Vintage TNA…anyway, ODB wins, pinning Madison Rayne.

Likely to be Match of the Night? No.

TNA Women’s Knockout Championship Match
Angelina Love vs. Awesome Kong (c) vs. Taylor Wilde

Lowdown: For months The Beautiful People had been humiliating their opponents by putting brown paper bags over their heads to cover their “ugly” faces, but following embarrassment at the hands of Taylor Wilde, Roxxi and The Governor, Angelina Love, Velvet Sky and now Madison Rayne have taken their vengeance to another level. Their M.O. now consists of unceremoniously cutting the hair of their Knockout rivals and so far Wilde, Roxxi, The Governor, Raisha Saeed and even Awesome Kong can be counted amongst the victims. This increased hostility has been coupled with a clear goal – Angelina Love’s desire to win the TNA Women’s Championship. At Lockdown, Love will get the chance to fulfill this goal, although champion Awesome Kong and second challenger Taylor Wilde will have revenge and title aspirations on their minds.

Prediction: I can see Angelina Love winning the Women’s title sometime in the near future, but after The Beautiful People stood tall on the go-home Impact for Lockdown, I predict a revenge-thirsty Awesome Kong to retain after she pins Love.

Likely to be Match of the Night? No.

Xscape Match for the TNA X Division Championship
Consequences Creed vs. Kiyoshi vs. Suicide (c) vs. “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir

Lowdown: After an impressive showing at last month’s Destination X PPV where he won the X Division title in the highly dangerous Ultimate X Match, Suicide will defend his newly-won championship this Sunday against four tough challengers in another unique match type, the Xscape Match. Tag team partners Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed always provide stern competition, with Lethal being a multiple-time X Division Champion himself. Sheik Abdul Bashir and Kiyoshi recently formed a coalition, an anti-American partnership also featuring No Limit, and Bashir has made his intentions clear through his hate-filled words and a brutal DDT to Suicide on the X Division title belt a couple of weeks ago on Impact. Who will escape to victory at Lockdown?

Prediction: Suicide has just won the title and appears to be extremely popular with the fans in the Impact Zone, therefore I see him retaining in this one.

Likely to be Match of the Night? No.

Philadelphia Street Fight for the TNA World Tag Team Championship and IWGP World Tag Team Championship
Team 3D vs. Beer Money, Inc.

Lowdown: Beer Money mean business. In the weeks leading up to this match, James Storm and Robert Roode did everything in their power maintain an even playing field with Team 3D, including saving them from a post-match attack, and Team 3D returned the favour, with Ray and Devon fending off a Main Event Mafia assault on Beer Money. Storm and Roode chose this route because they wanted to prove to everyone that they don’t need questionable tactics to win and that they will beat Team 3D fair and square. That was until the April 16th Impact, when Beer Money showed their true colours. Team 3D’s visiting friends Brother Runt and Balls Mahoney were viciously attacked by Beer Money, all the way from the backstage area to the ring, where they were laid out by tables and busted open by steel chairs. Predictably livid, Team 3D came out and had this Sunday’s match changed from a standard Six Sides of Steel Match to a Philadelphia Street Fight, where the cage door will be opened and all four men will be left to fight it out anywhere in the arena – including in the rabid, bloodthirsty Philly crowd.

Prediction: The IWGP belts are on the line, 3D’s friends were assaulted by Beer Money and it’s in Philly. Yeah, Team 3D will win.

Likely to be Match of the Night? Possibly.

Lethal Lockdown Match
Team Jarrett (Samoa Joe, Jeff Jarrett, Christopher Daniels & AJ Styles) vs. Team Angle (Booker T, Kurt Angle, Scott Steiner & Kevin Nash)

Lowdown: Jarrett vs. Angle will reach an almighty conclusion this Sunday at Lockdown. TNA’s creator and TNA’s biggest star have been embroiled in a bitter rivalry since late 2008, with Angle doing everything in his power to vanquish Jarrett from TNA and Jarrett attempting to bring down the Main Event Mafia. Each man has assembled a squad of soldiers to bring into battle for Lethal Lockdown. On Jarrett’s side, the man whose single aim is to bring his “Nation of Violence” to the Main Event Mafia and anyone else who opposes him in TNA, Samoa Joe, TNA Legends Champion and diehard TNA Original, AJ Styles, and the man who made his return this past Impact to the delight of the TNA faithful, Christopher Daniels. On Angle’s side, his Main Event Mafia cohorts, Booker T, Scott Steiner and Kevin Nash. Questions have been raised over Jarrett’s loyalty to his team, especially after he awarded Kurt Angle a controversial victory over Christopher Daniels on the April 16th Impact which gave Team Angle the man advantage for Lockdown, but all of those questions will be answered this Sunday when Team Jarrett and Team Angle go head-to-head in Lethal Lockdown.

Prediction: TNA have teased Jarrett turning heel and helping the Main Event Mafia to victory ever since this match was announced, but I think it’s just that, a tease. Who honestly wants to see another Jarrett heel run in TNA? Team Jarrett wins.

Likely to be Match of the Night? Possibly.

TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match
Mick Foley vs. Sting (c)

Lowdown: Things were going so well for Jeff Jarrett and Mick Foley until what Jarrett described as “the chair shot heard round the world”. On the March 19th Impact, Jarrett and Foley faced Sting and Kurt Angle in a tag team match. In the weeks preceding this, Jarrett and Foley had been trying to convince Sting that he did not belong in the Main Event Mafia and it appeared as if they had made some progress, with Sting looking increasingly likely to quit the Mafia and side with Jarrett and Foley as the weeks went by. All of this came undone during the tag match. As Angle was beating down Foley during the bout, Sting continually told Angle to finish the match and put Foley out of his misery. This seemed innocent enough, in fact it seemed as if Sting was helping Foley, however Foley took umbridge to what he perceived to be Sting’s patronisation and cracked “The Icon” over the head with a steel chair, getting the 1-2-3 in the process. This lit a fire under Foley’s belly and the “Hardcore Legend” challenged Sting to a match at Lockdown for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Foley wants to prove that he still has what it takes to do the business and Sting wants to put to rest Foley’s recent odd and unreasonable behaviour by beating him in front of the world at Lockdown.

Prediction: Foley winning the TNA World title would be a stupid move, even by TNA’s standards. Sting retains.

Likely to be Match of the Night? No.