[bdoriginal]

Guess I'll get this puppy rolling, right off a fuckin' cliff! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...I just made myself sad.


Anyway, I thought the show was pretty fun.

Opening segment, eh, not caring much. I love Booker, I don't hate Roode, but they should be blowing off their feud one on one inside THE SIX SIDES OF STEEL!!! Ms. Banks is looking extra fuckable these days.

Tag match was okay until EY got distracted by the monsters. At least Kaz didn't take the pin.

Maybe because I'm a mark for those two guys, but I loved the sitdown interview with Rhino and Cage. Maybe it's because it seemed real without seeming like a worked shoot. I'm pretty sure when Mick told his daughter that the Rock was just playing, it didn't look that way to her. I'm so used to intense, fuck the world Rhino that it was nice hearing him just say "make this right with her."


Sonjay is growing on me, since he's developing a character of some sort. See, this is why females get raped. Stop encouraging the crazy Indian guy. He's nuts! And that was a sick Border Toss. I fuckin' love when Hernadez kills cruisers that deserve it. Speaking of which, when the hell did he grow all that facial hair? Are they heels again? Unfortunately, we missed out on a potentially good match. I need to see that bridging T-Bone suplex again. That was nice.


I really wish that Booker had added "but tonight, he get's his ass whooped, phenomenally."

I'd love to see a longer match with these two. Between Booker's side kicks and AJ's array of twisting, contorting, and flipping kicks, I was loving their brief encounter. Also, this would have been the perfect time to see a Bookend. Faces aren't supposed to roll up heels unless they're getting dominated. THOSE ARE THE RULES DAMN IT!!! AJ was awesome trying to impress Karen and unlike Sonjay, was actually doing impressive shit. Speaking about bangable, hot damn Karen was looking lovely.

Knockouts match was very watchable and that's like the worst thing I can say about it. Nothing spectacular, but nothing approaching Kelly/Leyla either (is that still going on or did it just end as all things ECW do?). I do wish Gail would steel from Eddie and hit a headscissors/frankensteiner every once in a while instead of that arm drag. I'm in love with ODB's chest.

For a work, those Angle exhibitions were pretty well done in my opinion. I like how the boxer actually had hand speed and the one MMA guy tried to get out of stuff until he was just caught with the arm triangle. Happens all the time in real bouts. And of course, the headbutt on the last guy was awesome as always.

Ray trying to steal AJ's belt and Devon stealing Taz's cathphrase both put a smile on my face. It's always refreshing to hear Devon say something other than "Testify!"


Main event was fun while it lasted. Nothing earth shattering but well worked until the DQ. I liked how the heels took care of business. Not always, but sometimes I hate when the heels have the advantage and either bail or get their ass kicked by one or two guys. So the fourth guy is Sting? Works for me. He's been in all of them, hasn't he? I still dig the old dude so let's do this.


FRANK TRIGG next week bitches!

[Lucky]

I think Kelly/Layla managed to keep up ECW's perfect streak of never ending a feud or story in a satisfying or logical way. It really is an amazing run.

I'm ok with Booker/Roode being a tag match at Lockdown as long as it IS the blowoff. Sharmell is legitimately the focus of this feud and Cornette's reason for putting her in there made sense. Since the women have been as violent and uncontrollable as the men they need to finish things off themselves. Now if they try and squeeze Traci in there I might think things are getting too much, but for now I presume Sharmell and Banks do a short sequence, Roode threatens Sharmell, the crowd encourages Booker to hit Banks, and 75% of the match is the men going at it.

That TNA is honest to God blowing off long standing feuds at Lockdown for once rather than doing it the month before or after Lockdown is just enough to let me be ok with a lot.

You forget that Devon can talk when Bubba does all the talking and Devon just hits a catchphrase. And yeah, Bubba as a heel is just a lot of fan because he balances that ruthlessness with the goofy aspect of him trying to swipe the belt.

Homicide losing to Dutt depressed me but was obvious given the Dutt/Lethal story. But I'm glad to see that LAX was able to get their heat back right after it. LAX is feeling as hot as it has in a long time so hopefully that's a sign of TNA agreeing that they've been wasted the last year.

The Knockouts rock. Even when its not a great match its better than most of what WWE feeds us. God I love it. And correct me if I'm wrong but...
Kong & Saed vs Kim & ODB (with a simmering Kim vs ODB element to it)
Talia & Love vs Roxxi
Banks vs Traci (& Sharmell)

Is that THREE separate women's feuds existing in one company at the same time?! Not to mention LAX vs Rock 'n' Rave basically being based on Hemme vs Salinas. I can't believe this shit. Its a WOMEN'S DIVISION! I can't wait for Roxxi to find a partner! And it feels like she might because this is a DIVISION!

Sting has been in the last 2 Lethal Lockdowns. He wasn't in the original 6 man but noone remembers that anyway so no big deal. I do basically like the tradition of him being in the match and him returning it helps to give it more of a "double main event" feel. Plus, I like that he really doesn't have any issue with Team Tomko. He's just the face doing the good thing and helping out the other faces in need. Because he's a good guy. WHICH IS WHAT FACES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE!

Which reminds me, little stuff like the MCMG, Shark Boy, and Curry man running out to help Team Cage simply because they have some history with the heels and its the right thing to do? Once again its stuff like that which makes me love TNA. It makes fucking sense. Because when the faces are getting destroyed in WWE I'm sitting there wondering why John Cena is such a douche bag he doesn't care.

Rhino/Cage is clicking with me so damn much. I love it. I love that it calls back on year old continuity. That that feud was based on years old continuity. That brings enough real world shit into it to make it feel "real" without getting too silly in trying to convince us stupid soap opera stuff we know isn't real is (Eddie being Rey's kid's dad; Abyss taking the rap for his mom shooting his step dad and Mitchell ending up his real dad). Just "You were my friend and you betrayed me. You put me through hell, you weren't there when I needed you." "I know, I feel bad and I'm getting my life in order. You're still my friend and I still care about your family even during that war." "Then find a way to make it right to me and them." Real, simple, natural. Awesome.

Lethal Lockdown's very natural and simple stories of Tomko and Cage hating each other, Cage needing Rhino and Rhino being uncomfortable, Nash just saying "hey man, I was there for you and this is my fight too", Dudleyz being full blown mercs, and Sting just being the face. Just all very natural and solid with me and making that match work in a way that I really didn't think it would 2 weeks ago. Part of me wishes they kept it 5 man so they add Devine to take bumps and then can add 1 more. Ideally that would be MCMG with Nash written out, but Jarrett to really make the face team BIG would be cool. But this lineup is good and natural.

And Angle flipping out on Borash? "THERE IS NO KAREN! KAREN DOES NOT EXIST! ALL THERE IS LOCKDOWN AND JOE!" God, fucking perfect. Its how it has to play out. Angle totally focused and at his best. Not pining over his wife who is falling for AJ. Let that stuff simmer on the back burner and do it AFTER Joe wins.

Between how Joe/Angle feels like its being done right for the first time since their first encounter and that headbutt... to how natural Lethal Lockdown feels... and the proper use of Lockdown and the cage to blow off Roode/Booker... Lockdown feels WAY bigger than WM to me right now. Add in Saed's ring debut? An Xscape Match with the X title on the line and some real players instead of just a random match to occupy the directionless X Division guys? I'm even willing to overlook a VKM match that noone wants to see.

I must be a mark because I even kinda dig the PPV song and video. And I think it might suck.

[Deadly]

I love TNA so much right now. I haven't watched any WWE for the last couple of weeks and I don't miss it.

I just wish I knew someone around here that would split the cost of that PPV. I'd actually really like to see it.

[The Bad Guy]

I'm really glad Rhino and CC's history hasn't been 3 month ruled.

I think Kelly/Layla managed to keep up ECW's perfect streak of never ending a feud or story in a satisfying or logical way. It really is an amazing run.

Not to mention Balls just disappeared right in the middle of the story. As did Miz, but at least that would be easy enough to explain as having him too busy concentrating on being one half of the tag champs.

Ideally that would be MCMG with Nash written out, but Jarrett to really make the face team BIG would be cool. But this lineup is good and natural.

Speaking of Jarrett, has he said anything about whether he actually intends to return to the ring or not? I know he's still involved with the company and all, but I mean as an active wrestler. If not, that's perfectly understandable, I was just wondering if he's said anything one way or the other.

[Mr. Dashbee]

The Jarrett factor is what amazes me the most about TNA. I'm sure he can still go in the ring, but he chooses not to. He's focusing on making new stars with TNA, and working his ass off behind the scenes to make something out of what they have.

Sure, they have Angle, Nash, Cage, Booker & Sting in prominent places on the card. But they also have Joe, AJ, Roode, Lethal, MCMG, Eric Young, Shark Boy and others being pushed. It's not recycled WWE like WCW was back in the day. It is new and fresh, and if they really shift to a more in-ring competition based focus starting with the Lockdown main event, I only see TNA slowly getting stronger throughout 08 & 09.

[salmonjunkie]

He had come back as Eric Young's friend, but then two weeks disappeared because of his wife passed away. That's the last time we saw him, right?

[Byrntrigan]

Junkie -

I seem to remember him in a match aftbeing shown as EY's secret friend. Wasn't he in last years Lethal Lockdown?

Or am I thinking of a different PPV. I'm sure he did 1 PPV appearance last spring.

[Lucky]

He disappeared when his wife took a bad turn. Supposedly they were going to try and bring him back as a face based on her illness after BFG '06 but she took a bad turn. He showed up a month before she died to do Lethal Lockdown and the next month he was Young's friend and put Roode over. His wife died within a week after his last appearance and he hasn't been seen in almost a year since. By most accounts he's comfortable being a background player and a single father but I do think he has a lot to offer as a special attraction guy. But of course, the man has been through a lot and if he doesn't want to be a player God bless that. I just think we're at a point where we'd see a good wrestler and good man returning to the business, where he was a power hungry douche 18 months ago when he was last a regular. But JJ's career may be done.

But it looks like its Cage, Nash, Rhino, and Sting. Which is fine. JJ in Nash's place would have just made it something a bit bigger.

By most accounts he's happy retired and we may never see him as a regular player again. He's the single father of young children and the head of a company. But I do think while he's not Sting he has true value as a special attraction in TNA like he played at last year's Lockdown and in putting over Roode (you know, if Roode hadn't then spent a year being boring).

[The Bad Guy]

dxb said:

Junkie -

I seem to remember him in a match aftbeing shown as EY's secret friend. Wasn't he in last years Lethal Lockdown?

Or am I thinking of a different PPV. I'm sure he did 1 PPV appearance last spring.

He was indeed in last year's Lethal Lockdown. He was part of Team Angle, and after hitting Abyss with a guitar, he stepped aside to let Sting get the pin and win a title shot.

The next month, at Sacrifice, he lost to Roode as part of the EY's friend angle.

Then he was supposed to be in the King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary the next month, but understandably dropped out after his wife died shortly before the event. He was replaced by Chris Harris.

Since then, the only time I remember seeing him is when he was in part of some interview trying to get Pac-Man Jones over.

[Mr. Dashbee]

That's what makes me actually like Jarrett for the first time. When VinnieMac bought WCW and Jarrett was on the publically fired list, I was first in line to call out Jarrett for starting TNA so he could be a star again. And at first, he was just that. But I think he did it because he had to. He got other guys over, like Ron Killings and AJ Styles. He flat out made AJ Styles and Abyss with TNA.

Now Jarrett's #1 concern is getting TNA over, and making it a success. Jarrett doesn't matter to Jarrett as much anymore, TNA matters to Jarrett. So kudos to him.

[salmonjunkie]

Speaking of Chris Harris, where is he now? Is he actually gone from TNA?

[Lucky]

Signed with WWE and training in Florida, supposedly.

[Byrntrigan]

bdoriginal said:

... And that was a sick Border Toss. I fuckin' love when Hernadez kills cruisers that deserve it. Speaking of which, when the hell did he grow all that facial hair? Are they heels again?... I'm in love with ODB's chest....Ray trying to steal AJ's belt and Devon stealing Taz's cathphrase both put a smile on my face. It's always refreshing to hear Devon say something other than "Testify!"

LAX is showing more "edge" and doing sick shit to people - but only when deserved like Sonjay this week. They aren't heels, but are more bad ass faces I supposse. They've been brought to the forefront again since Ariel / Salinas has been brought into TNA to be their stripper, I mean, valet.

ODB has gone in my book from hot, to looking like she just finished a 16 wrestler gangbang where they all came in her hair. Plus, I think her trying to be more "natural" makes her look ugly. Give us the ODB in the dickies one piece with her hair in a Betty Page 40's doo. Now THAT was hot.

Allways nice to know that devon can talk, and usually better then Bubba in my opinion. he just never talks. I wonder if using Tazz's old ECW line is a rib or if he's gonna keep it?

[Byrntrigan]

Is anyone else a little dissapointed that TNA had to go to the "I Gaurentee a Victory" dealie with Joe?

I mean, what out do they have except Joe actually leaving the company, taking an extended hiatus, or winning the title?

I'm assuming at this point that Joe is taking the title but I liked the ambiguity of it being up in the air. I mean com'on, we know Joe should have been world champ quite some time ago (like a fucking year ago) but doing it like this strikes me as unnecasary and sloppy.

Or Joe really is leaving.... :-*

[Batman]

I completely hear where you're coming from, it definitely gives the whole thing an air of inevitability.

But I think they're doing it this way because it's necessary. They need this--along with the cage, and de-emphasizing the Alliance, and the separation from Karen--to convince the Joe fans who have burned too many times that they're really serious about pushing Joe to the top this time.

I think that standing on his own rather than relying on a stable has really brought out the best in Angle, too. "It's Damn Real" sounded natural instead of forced for the first time I can recall. And the "open workout" was the biggest I've marked out for Angle in years. Awesome.

There have been too many screwy title matches lately, with all of the factions and such. A clean finish will make for a very welcome change.

[Byrntrigan]

Serg -

I didn't actually think of it that way. That makes sense as a "make good" way to alert the smarks it's really happening this time.

I just wish they didn't have to beat us on the noodle with it.

[Lucky]

Joe's win has always supposed to be this huge moment so I think it should always have been obvious. If he had won at Bound For Glory we would all gone in absolutely presuming it. Its like RVD going into ONS or if Hardy hadn't screwed up and would have his big Title match. The selling point isn't the ambiguity of who wins, its the guy winning. They want us to know Joe is winning because that's why I'm buying the show. A friend said it to me Saturday night, someone who I don't even remembered discussing TNA with before and wasn't even aware he watched it. "Want to come to my place for Lockdown? I want to see Joe win." This is a big change and big moment coming and it should be built as that.

And I'm cynical enough that I STILL don't trust TNA and if they do everything as well as they have for the last 2 weeks I'll still go into that match jumping at every 2 count and submission hold. Because I want the win bad enough that just being pretty sure its happening isn't enough.

Is Joe saying "I won't be back if I lose" too much of a clue? Maybe. But its really not about wondering who will win that match. For the overwhelming majority of the TNA audience this is about Joe winning, period. And convincing us that Joe is winning is the key, not making us worry that Angle will win and they will have fucked Joe up once again and we're just going to get more of the same.

[Batman]

What Lucky said.

Didn't they do the same thing with Sting leading up to BFG 2 years ago? Have him promise to quit if he didn't win, and then go off TV to train for a few weeks?

Completely separate question: does anyone know what the promo videos with the guy with his face obscured wandering around in a railyard are all about?

[Lucky]

Sting's career was on the line against Jarrett's title. And Sting did disappear for TWO months in the buildup. Joe faced Jarrett in a non-title match the month before and the whole thing might have worked better if we didn't all really want Joe vs JJ for the title. But yeah, similar story although Sting's career was officially on the line and he went away to supposedly find the old Sting (and he came back with a lot of color in his makeup and outfit in a sort of amalgamation of Crow Sting and Surfer Sting that he's since ditched).

The promos are for Rasheed Lucius "Consequences" Creed. He stepped in for Pacman Jones at BFG to defend the tag titles with Ron Killings. The Truth. Get it? AJ and Tomko took the titles and Pacman went away but TNA liked Creed so much they signed him and it was presumed that the team would stick. But then Killings walked and Creed has seemed in limbo ever since. His gimmick at the time and in the indies was basically Rocky's Apollo Creed but I'm hoping for a bit of a more serious one, especially since he seems likely as an X guy and the X division is coming dangerously close to being a comedy division.

I don't know what I had forgotten more. That Creed was supposedly signed with TNA for the last 5 months or that Chris Harris and Killings have supposedly been signed with WWE for the last 2 or 3.

[salmonjunkie]

Ok, I like ODB and all because she's fun as hell, but I can't believe any of you think she's hot.

[iamdoug]

With both Chris Harris and Ron Killings supposedly under contract with WWE, I understand that they would be removed from the TNA roster web page. I also believe that they both got the "future endeavored" message posted. I recently noticed that Raven, Judas, and Abyss have all been removed as well. I don't remember seeing any "future endeavored" messages for them however. Does anyone know if they are still on the roster or have they left the company?

[firebreakerchip]

Raven has left the company simply because the company did not really have anything for him to do. Last, I heard he is taking indy dates and thinking his esoteric, moody opinion was worthwhile on his blog. I am looking for Raven to do some program with the Age of the Fall. It just makes sense from my perspective. Judas left the company because AAA in Mexico pays better. Mesias was not in a long-term contract, but a day-to-day one. So he could walk out whenever. Abyss is thankfully taking a break. He is now a presence in the creative process and works as a road agent. He'll be back sadly.

You are all disgusting for thinking ODB is hawt. I hate almost everything about her. I wish my girl, KONG~! would erase her from this planet.

[bdoriginal]

In my defense, I only mentioned her breast and I too want Kong to kill her then comeback to my place for some sweet, sweet victory loving.

[jetskid48]

luckylopez said:

I don't know what I had forgotten more. That Creed was supposedly signed with TNA for the last 5 months or that Chris Harris and Killings have supposedly been signed with WWE for the last 2 or 3.

But did you notice the two former TNAers who did appear on WWE tv this week to get jobbed out in a 3 on 1 match against Big Show? Yup, the tv debuts of Andy Douglas and Chase Stevens went real well. I know they were the Naturals or something in TNA, but don't know much about them. Just the fact that they have tag team recognition though means they could actually use them in the tag division instead of jobbing them out though.

[Angle]

jetskid48 said:

But did you notice the two former TNAers who did appear on WWE tv this week to get jobbed out in a 3 on 1 match against Big Show? Yup, the tv debuts of Andy Douglas and Chase Stevens went real well. I know they were the Naturals or something in TNA, but don't know much about them. Just the fact that they have tag team recognition though means they could actually use them in the tag division instead of jobbing them out though.

They had a great feud a few years back with America's Most Wanted.

I don't remember much after that except for their short-lived run at the end of their TNA careers as The Newly-Franchised Naturals when Shane Douglas was their manager.