wrestling / Columns
Wrestling’s 4R’s PPV Edition 4.15.08: TNA LOCKDOWN 2008
How the 4R’s of wRestling Work!
Here is a quick explanation of the 4R’s. I will take the 4 main shows (5 if I go RetRo) of the week: TNA Impact, WWE Raw, ECW on Sci-Fi and WWE Smackdown. If we have a PPV, that show will get a special PPV edition of the R’s all to its own. I then group my feelings on the shows in various categories: The Right, the wRong and the Ridiculous. The Right is stuff that worked very well: a great promo, a great match and so on. PuRgatoRy is a section between the right and wrong. It shows equal traits from both sides that cannot be ignored and need discussed. It is not a bad place per say, as things can get remedied or go the wrong way the very next week. The wRong is what it sounds like: bad matches, bad or boring promos and so on. The Ridiculous is stuff that had no right on TV: Stupid angles, Diva searches and so on. And there is always a possibility of a 5th R, which is as bad as they come, unless you are TNA. They have a special R all of their own, the 6th R; the Russo-FN-Riffic~! This column is supposed to be analytical, and at the right time very critical of the shows, it was the whole reason it was created. This is not a “mark” column, nor a “smark” column, my goal is to analyze the show from many different fronts, reward the good and call out the bad. There are also occasions where I will bring out a 5th or even a 6th R to the column, so beware of those~! I will not apologize for my opinions, they are as they are, whether very positive or negative.
411 PODCASTS~!
The Matches:
X-DIVISION TITLE X-SCAE MATCH: Black Machismo © vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Johnny Devine vs. Sharky Boy vs. Curry Man vs. Consequences Creed: On these PPV editions of the R’s I tend to talk about the importance of the opening match. This will be no different. The opening match shouldn’t overshadow the rest of the card, but should be good enough to get everyone excited. It should involve people that the fans know and are connected with through hopefully a good angle. Well, it was a title match, Machismo, Curry Man and Sharky were all over with the live crowd, Dutt and Machismo had their friendship/turmoil heading in and it worked in that aspect. Everyone worked hard, we got some really good spots, the crowd was into it the whole time and the end was fun, and not as bad as past year’s endings. Dutt helping Machismo and then taking a pin, only to help him again later on I figure will filter into their feud, as he celebrated with Val after the match and overall a strong opener. I will say that it did come off rushed, too many eliminations for the time, but what we got was good and kicked off the show in a good way.
Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed vs. Gail Kim and ODB: I actually do not have a ton to say about this match, other than it was a damn fine tag team match. Saeed got to look good in the match, even if her outfit may have limited her a bit. She got in a lot of offense and played up on the fact that she trained with Kong, and is qualified to be in the match. The big deal here was that ODB and Gail actually worked together this time, no miscommunications and when that happens, they have proved that they are unstoppable. Kong stayed strong, Saeed looked fine even in loss due to her taking a back fist from Kong and it worked just like almost all of the matches with these ladies has. Add in the SUPER RANA from Kim and all was well, the TNA ladies delivered again.
THE LETHAL LOCKDOWN MATCH: TEAM TOMKO (Tomko, AJ Styles, Brother Ray, Brother Devon, James Storm) vs. TEAM CAGE (Christian Cage, Rhino, Kevin Nash, Sting, Matt Morgan): The co-main event of the evening was the Lethal Lockdown, and in my opinion it delivered. The start of the match was excellent, as Tomko faced beginning with Cage, only for AJ to launch a sneak attack on Cage. Starting with AJ and Cage for the first 5-minutes was a smart move, as they can work well together, they can go the whole match and it plays off of their feud. The meat of the match is the basic war games formula. Heel advantage, face hope spot, heel advantage. You can mess this up, but they did well and the drama aspect was solid. I though the placement of the entrants was good, and while I understand Sting getting the final spot, I was hoping that Morgan would have gotten it to get the big superstar clean house spot. But Sting was the bigger star, they chanted for him when the clock ran down and it worked. But everyone worked well together, they built to the big spot on top of the cage, and just when you thought the heels had the win locked up, Storm got gored out of his boots and Rhino got the win. A really, really fun match that helped bump the show from mediocre to good, with the main event yet to come. I will say that I hope that they stop trying to play “can we top this.” There were a bit too many unprotected shots to the head, and the top of the cage spot, while cool, was very dangerous. I like Styles, Cage and Storm. I do not need them to die to entertain me. After a second watching I dropped the rating slightly. On par with MITB, but not better as I thought on my first watching.
TNA World Title Match: Kurt Angle © vs. Samoa Joe: This was great stuff all around. The interviews given by Joe and Angle were both excellent interviews that really pulled you into the conflict. Frank Trigg’s interview, basically heeling it up and proclaiming that Joe had no chance was also very well done. Add in Marcus Davis’s interview, with was solid and this was all excellent show long build to the main event. As we went to the main event, they did the old school “WWF walking from the back” deal and then added in video packages about both men, which again were both well done and added to the overall presentation. Frank Trigg on commentary was an excellent idea again. He was great on Impact, and also did an excellent job here not only in overall commentary, but explaining to the audience what guys were doing, why they were doing it and why it worked. This was a great idea that worked out better than they ever could have thought it would have. Finally I know a lot of people, including myself, cringed when Karen Angle showed up. She said she was there to support Kurt, but right as the main event began, Kurt had her removed. This not only followed the current angle between them, but it got her away from the ring. I felt that this was important because then you didn’t worry about her possibly getting involved, nor would we have camera cuts to her, which would have taken away from the match.
As far as the match goes, the first thing I want to say that I am far from the only person that gave the match a high rating. Not that I care, but obviously others really enjoyed it. Secondly, I feel that most people that disliked the match went in wanting to hate it due to the MMA theme and likely hate MMA itself. Not all, but a good portion. Which is fine, it all comes down to personal preference and I personally loved the match. If you didn’t cool, if you bought it and were disappointed, cool. I never said you didn’t have the right. This is one of those matches that people will either love or hate. Again, “I FEEL” that this was great. TNA is often bashed on for not living up to their claim to be an alternative. Tonight they did something different, something out of the box and it was great. The first 6-minutes or so was almost exclusively MMA work. Angle came out as promised dressed for battle. MMA shorts, taped hands and ankles and was set to fight. Joe already works leg kicks and strikes and that is what they worked early and it worked. Angle would try takedowns, go for a mount and drop hard punches. They then slowly worked into more of a pro wrestling match, which they did at the right time. These guys took a risk, they could have done the usual match and played it safe, but they took a risk and it paid off. The realism, the psychology, it clicked and it worked to me. People were popping for the rope breaks, the submissions and I just loved it. Plain and simple. Some people are blowing the small “boring chant” out of proportion, saying that it was due to the MMA theme. That happened during a figure four spot that went a bit long. That has nothing to do with MMA. The match built very well all the way to the ending, and the crescendo was the Joe win, which has been in the works forever. We got pay off, and now it is all up to the follow up booking. Back when I reviewed the ROH Man Up PPV, and the Danielson match I said, “They worked the story, they worked the eye, they worked the MMA stuff and it all worked in the end. This is very fresh and exciting stuff to watch because it is so different from everything else on PPV.” Well Joe vs. Angle went that route and it worked just as well. We also got a CLEAN FINISH IN A TNA MAIN EVENT! That is an important thing to mention again. I dug it, and it is refreshing to see different stuff. I also love the fact that they only used the cage ONE TIME, and it MEANT SOMETHING at the finish. So great. This match came off as a BIG TIME main event, it was pushed as such, and it delivered. Something TNA has not done well in their short life. In the end, everything about this was what was right about TNA, which is so nice to say.
FRANK TRIGG: HIRE THIS MAN NOW.
QUEEN OF THE CAGE MATCH: Angelina Love vs. Velvet Sky vs. Salinas vs. Rhaka Khan vs. Traci Brooks vs. Christy Hemme vs. Ms. Jackie Moore vs. Roxxi Laveaux: I hated the concept of the match, I REALLY did, but I have to admit that it worked out pretty well all things considered. They kept the opening portion short, they kept it safe and it wasn’t nearly as bad as the reverse battle royals they have done. As I predicted Angelina Love and Roxxi were the two to make it into the cage, and I fully approve. They had a fine little match, nothing wrong with it really and Roxxi got the win. That is two in a row over Love to hopefully end that spat, an it also makes her the #1 contender for the Knockouts Title. This also works very well because now you have Kong, ODB, Kim and Roxxi at the top of the division, with Saeed coming soon I figure. Not bad, not great, but it did some good things. Also the crowd was into Roxxi big time.
CUFFS IN THE CAGE MATCH: Rellik and Black Reign vs. Eric Young and Kaz vs. Scott Steiner and Petey Williams vs. Sabin and Alex Shelley vs. Homicide and Hernandez vs. Rave and Hoyt: I hated the concept of the match, I REALLY did, but I have to admit that it worked out pretty well all things considered. I mean I was ready to hate this match. But when you look at it they did some good stuff. The pre-match attack set up the Super Eric deal. I don’t like the character, but the live crowd was chanting for it, they wanted the run in, they got it and everyone popped. I expected this to suck beyond all belief, but it didn’t. It wasn’t great, and the announcers had a very hard time following it. But the spots and crowd energy really helped. My only REAL major complaint is that Steiner got cuffed so quickly. He is going to challenge for the title, which allows him the chance for a string showing and then to get ganged up on and cuffed. They did it half right, but did it way too soon. I wish that this would have been dropped from the show or put on the pre-show to allow some of the other matches a little more time. It wasn’t needed at all.
BG James vs. Kip James: For weeks they have built to this match. Former partners about to explode. Two men that were like brothers were going to war in a cage! Kip promised to fight like a caged tiger! We got none of that. Kip got a cheap shot and then proceeded to work a match that you could see any week on TV. It was there, and had about no heat. For two guys that are so pissed at each other, they did a poor job of portraying it. Also, almost no cage work and a roll up finish. The after match was very predictable, no one bought that they would make up. This feud MUST continue. Joy…
Booker T and Sharmell vs. Robert Roode and Payton Banks: I was fully expecting this to be not only a pretty good match, but also the final blow off to the feud. Unfortunately I got neither. They had a boring 7+-minute match, it was the same Booker vs. Roode stuff I have seen for months. It was ordinary, I didn’t feel the hate. I got the story of Booker trying to fight the entire match to protect Sharmell, but I never felt his hate for Roode. Sharmell got some revenge and the pin, and this feud MUST continue. Finally, we got what appears to be ANOTHER break up angle, as Roode was pissed with Banks and left her by herself after the match. He also threatened to hit her. It wasn’t horrible, but it also not good.
NADDA~!:
I ended up really digging this show. The big thing is not only did the main two matches deliver, but also the X-Division match and the ladies tag were also very good matches. The show long build and hype for Joe vs. Angle was spectacular and made this feel like a truly big time match. It worked and worked well in my opinion and was the absolute best of TNA, which is a great thing to say. The good was either really good or great, and the bad actually wasn’t very bad at all.
Overall I will go with a 8.2 out of 10, and a big recommendation. You had four matches that delivered, two of them big time. You had the big Joe win on top of that all. Two of the matches I expected to be absolutely horrible actually weren’t and this ended up being, in my opinion the best TNA PPV in a long time.
–WWE WRESTLEMANIA {8.7}
–ROH RISING ABOVE {8.6}
–ROH UNDENIABLE {8.5}
–TNA LOCKDOWN {8.2}
–WWE NO WAY OUT {8.1}
–WWE ROYAL RUMBLE {8.0}
–TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS {7.5}
–TNA DESTINATION X {7.25}
–TNA FINAL RESOLUTION {6.75}
–(WWE WRESTLEMANIA 24) CAREER THREATENING MATCH: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels *****
–(WWE WRESTLEMANIA 24) WORLD TITLE MATCH: Edge © vs. The Undertaker ****½
(ROH RISING ABOVE) ROH World Title Match: Nigel McGuinness © vs. Austin Aries ****½
–(TNA LOCKDOWN) TNA WORLD TITLE MATCH: Kurt Angle © vs. Samoa Joe ****½
–(ROH UNDENIABLE) GRUDGE MATCH: Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong ****¼
–(WWE NO WAY OUT) RAW ELIMINATION CHAMBER ****¼
–(TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS) TNA WORLD TITLE MATCH: Kurt Angle © vs. Christian Cage ****
–(TNA FINAL RESOLUTION) TNA WORLD TITLE MATCH: Kurt Angle © vs. Christian Cage ****
–(WWE ROYAL RUMBLE) The Royal Rumble Match ****
–(TNA FINAL RESOLUTION) TNA NO-DQ WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Gail Kim ©vs. Awesome Kong ***¾
–(TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS) HARDCORE STREET FIGHT: Team 3D and Brother Devine vs. Black Machismo and the Motor City Machineguns ***¾
–(ROH UNDENIABLE) ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Jay & Mark Briscoe © vs. The No Remorse Corps ***¾
–(ROH RISING ABOVE) ROH World Tag Team Title – 2 of 3 Falls Match: Jay & Mark Briscoe © vs. The No Remorse Corps ***¾
–(WWE NO WAY OUT) SMACKDOWN ELIMINATION CHAMBER ***¾
–(WWE WRESTLEMANIA 24) WWE TITLE MATCH: Randy Orton © vs. John Cena vs. HHH ***¾
–(WWE WRESTLEMANIA 24) MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH: Chris Jericho vs. MVP vs. John Morrison vs. Carlito vs. CM Punk vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. Shelton Benjamin ***¾
–(TNA LOCKDOWN) LETHAL LOCKDOWN: Team Cage vs. Team Tomko ***¾
This is a little added deal I started last year, as I feel that there are some other things that should be mentioned from the PPV’s. Not every PPV will have one, it just depends on who I think steps up and deserves some extra recognition.
–TNA FINAL RESOLUTION: Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong (Making us Care about Women’s Wrestling on the National Stage)
–ROH UNDENIABLE: Strong vs. Aries (The Grudge is Settled)
–WWE ROYAL RUMBLE: John Cena Shocks the World (No One Saw it Coming)
–TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS: Black Machismo Saves the X-Division (He is a Superman)
–WWE NO WAY OUT: Taker Eliminates the Competition (Elimination Chamber MVP)
–TNA DESTINATION X: Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong © vs. ODB (Stepping up Again)
–WWE WRESTLEMANIA XXIV: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels (Thank You Flair)
–TNA LOCKDOWN: Angle vs. Joe (Great Build, Great Delivery)
