Tim's Take 4.16.08: The Fallout from Lockdown
Posted by Tim Livingston on 04.16.2008
The champ is here! Samoa Joe has done it. But what about the rest of the PPV?
People like it when I give the fallout from Pay-Per-View events, so here goes with TNA Lockdown, one of the more important PPVs in the history of the company. Of course, all of these matches are contested inside the SIX SIDES OF STEEL~! and what not. Well, except for the Queen of the Cage match.
Black Machismo wins the X-Division Xscape match to retain the X-Division Title
Overall, these matches are fairly fun, fast paced, and offer good excitement for an opener, and this was pretty good. They had the big spots, like the SSP and the senton, and the most over guy right now got the win, which is good. The question is whether or not Johnny Devine is worth a shot as a heel, but I don't really see too much in him. He's not too charismatic, and he doesn't really put himself out there as a heel unless somebody else is with him, like Team Canada or Team 3D. I think Consequences Creed is the wild card, here. If he can be a good heel, there might be hope yet for a foil for Jay Lethal.
Roxxi Laveaux beats Angelina Love with the Voodoo Crusher to win Queen of the Cage
Awesome! Roxxi has basically been wasted thanks to the stupid Voodoo Queen angle with Kip James and BG James, so now that she's going to get a run in the Knockouts division, it can spice things up. She's a much more technically sound wrestler than ODB, and people (and I agree with them) think that Roxxi deserves a shot in the limelight. Hopefully it'll lead to some good stuff for Roxxi in the near future, because she can go, and it'll be fun to see what she can do with Awesome Kong. The other girls in the match seem to be filler at this point, but the good thing is that while that might be the case, almost all of them are involved in some other aspect of the show, as well, which allows them to have exposure so that they don't get forgotten easily. It's good to have flexibility that way.
BG James defeated Kip James with a roll-up
Does ANYBODY care? I sure as hell don't. They didn't even have the type of promos to help push this angle. And of course, since they both suck in the ring at this point in their careers, they don't exactly fire up the joint in the ring. The problem is that this doesn't seem to be over thanks to the match ending on a roll-up. Kip James is the loser in the match, but the fans are losers for having to sit through more of this bogus crap. There might be a trickle-down effect with that Samoa Joe guy as champion, though. Maybe acts like BG and Kip aren't going to be focused on that much anymore…
Super Eric cuffs Black Reign to win Cuffs in the Cage for him and Kaz
See, the concept is just too jumbled for a match like this. You're gonna get some sweet spots considering the participants, but all in all, people can't be focused on. Well, that is except for Jimmy Rave. God, Hernandez must LOVE going to work, meeting up with Jimmy before the match and hearing Jimmy say, "Don't worry about how hard or how high you hit the Border Toss. Do what you need to do, big man." And then he dies not only to the Cracker Jack on the cage, but also to the Flux Capacitor. Say what you want about his vapid personality, but Jimmy Rave is a bump machine and is not afraid to die for you. I will give him that. Eric Young continues to entertain, but could they possibly be running out of ideas in the tag division? Eric and Kaz are a neat team, but tag team title contenders? Who knows at this point.
ODB and Gail Kim defeated Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed when ODB pinned Saeed
Cheerleader Melissa is on your TV sets and it's for real, now. Your top two heels in the Knockouts division are two workers who can get a good match out of any other woman on the roster, simply because they know how to structure a match. I really look forward to seeing the two work together because like I said before about Awesome Kong: if you want to improve the workload of the other wrestlers, have wrestlers who do everything they can to get the best out of whoever they face. Kong got it out of Gail Kim, and I'm betting that Melissa, the best technical woman's wrestler in North America right now, will do the same. Fun match, as well.
Booker T and Sharmell defeated Robert Roode and Traci Brooks when Sharmell rolled up Brooks
I think this has officially run its course. They were hoping that Roode could get some kind of a rub against Booker, but I don't think anyone is buying it. Booker has been constantly going over, and Sharmell, of all people, is the focal point of the feud, as opposed to the two wrestlers. The match brought the return of the Spinaroonie, so kudos. Outside of that, there wasn't much else.
Team Cage wins Lethal Lockdown over Team Tomko when Rhino Gored James Storm
Fun match, mainly because they bring the big stunts and it goes well. Rhino has looked really impressive and everyone is bumping for the Gore. James Storm should take the Gore every week from Rhino because he will make it look like it damn near killed him. There hasn't been much that has been resolved, and Matt Morgan seems primed for some type of a push, which makes me shudder a bit. Meanwhile, Cage and Sting are just kinda there. Do they really pull the plug on Sting/Storm? Is that going to help anybody?
Samoa Joe defeats Kurt Angle with the Muscle Buster to win the TNA World Title
They went for epic, but didn't get what they wanted. They wanted MMA, but they didn't really get that. They wanted a hot finish, but they got an abrupt one instead. Everything was sub par about the match, even if the work was pretty good. Now the question that I have been posing for a few months is going to be answered soon. The first title defense is against Scott Steiner. Will Samoa Joe get the title reign like he did in ROH? Or will he simply be another in the assembly line of champions who can't win matches on their own?
Roode is getting the rub, think about it this way; Booker T was getting KILLED by Robert Roode. Every time Booker made a comeback, Roode was right there to cut him off. Booker's wife was begging to be tagged in so her man could get the heck out of there. Robert Roode didnt lose, his assistant got caught off guard. That match made Roode look strong, and it came across (to me) that if Robert Roode didn't tag Ms. Banks into the match, he would have had Booker's number that night. I think most people would agree with me that, even with the loss, this match helped show the dominance of Roode, and because of how it ended it made Roode look better. It gives him a reason to be pissed off and fired up for the next encounter. If Booker wins that match on anything less than a four star encounter, then sir I will agree with you that this feud did nothing for these men.
Posted By: Chris (Guest) on April 16, 2008 at 12:39 AM
Wasn't it Team Cage vs. Team Tomko? Morgan and Cage were on the same side.
Posted By: Bman (Guest) on April 16, 2008 at 01:22 AM
I care about BG James...i guess its like when everybody thought topanga was over Cory and then Cory found out that Shawn did to..but what did Corey do..he stuck in there...Just like I'm going to do with BG James..Im going to keep believing...
Posted By: andi (Guest) on April 16, 2008 at 01:39 AM
Nice Boy Meets World example, although Shawn was the only one that thought Topanga WASN'T over him.
Posted By: JJ (Guest) on April 16, 2008 at 06:34 AM
I'm glad that you were able to be objective on Joe's win and not wet yourself like everyone else. Even though it's about damn time Joe won, we don't have to automatically give it 4+ stars. The MMA part missed big time in my eyes. The wrestling was good. And the end was somewhat premature (TJ Corke's an expert on that) just as it was getting good.
Chris - you're dead on with your Roode comments. TNA needs a TV title to put around this guys waist to really get him over. Enough with the abusive loser act.
Posted By: T-DOG (Guest) on April 16, 2008 at 07:28 AM
Good points T-Dog. However I think the reason this match got the 4* rating was due to the possible significance of Joe's title win. If done right (I know a big IF considering TNA's history) then this may go down as one of the biggest moments in company history.
The wrestling was good, and you have to appreciate the fact they were using MMA elements, we'll see where it goes for the future.
Consequences Creed is exactly what the X Division needs right now. With his charisma he should get the belt soon while Lethal and Dutt have it out.
The Knockouts division is at its deepest, and what's best is that they are building up enough contenders to make people notice that it's more than about Kong-Kim.
Roode-Booker has ran its course, and Roode needs to either be put in the World title picture or they need another belt to let people like him really get over.
Posted By: Orlando (Guest) on April 16, 2008 at 11:17 AM
actually JJ, there was one episode where shawn said he had given up as well...angela had told shawn that topanga was in love and it was to imply that topanga had fallen for the art student...and this is what college has gotten me, a ton of wrestling and boy meets world knowledge...thank you college, I feel your time was well spent on my way to earning that degree!
Posted By: andi (Guest) on April 16, 2008 at 12:39 PM
To get over in TNA, you need to have some cool moves, hence no one gives a damn about Robert Roode.
Posted By: D-Steak (Guest) on April 16, 2008 at 03:39 PM
"To get over in TNA, you need to have some cool moves, hence no one gives a damn
about Robert Roode."
Are you serious? Roode is a solid worker and a good character, which is much more important than any number contrived moves some x - division guys throw out. I'd count Sting as being pretty over by the way, and i can't think of any awesomely cool moves he has to offer.
Posted By: david (Guest) on April 16, 2008 at 07:12 PM
