Opening statements: TNA have booked Sacrifice with the hope that people will buy the show to see new tag team champions. They also expect some buys to come from the fact that it will be Joe’s 1^st PPV title defense. Gimmick matches like the Terror Dome and the women’s reverse battle royal ladder match with a shaven head stip might be of some interest .The Terror Dome might work, I saw a video of a similar match held by AAA and TNA has made this an X-Division only match with a #1 contendership on the line.

TNA’s X division makes even the most hopeless match seem entertaining so this is something to watch.

As for the main event, this has been the only point of the post Lockdown shows that has been written and executed effectively.TNA has managed to somehow fuse Scott Steiner into the title match without making him look weak.

This show furthered that main event for Sacrifice by playing a standard scenario for a triple threat match. One where 2 out of 3 competitors usually the heels decide to ‘put their differences’ aside for one night and ‘work together’ to take out the face champion.

That’s how things started with Steiner and Angle getting out of their hired limos and cutting a promo in the lot with JB which set up the main event; a tag team match with Angle and Steiner taking on Joe and Nash.

The match in itself was very forgettable. The wrestling was weak and that’s exactly what happens when you book Kevin Nash in a main event .The other 3 guys had to somehow work Nash all the way through. Steiner and Angle exchanged tags trying to sell Nash by eating his offense-snake eyes, elbows, a side slam and the infamous Nash big boot. They finish with Joe cleaning house but interrupted by an Angle slam. Steiner meanwhile clocks Nash with the pipe leading to Angle then proceeding to Angle Slam Nash which was A COMPLETE BOTCH because Nash didn’t take it correctly.

Creative booted the dissension for the belt with Steiner pinning Nash pissing Angle leading to the ankle lock to which Steiner tapped out. The last few minutes of the match were entertaining setting up the main event for Sacrifice.

TNA used the deuces wild tourney to create 2 singles matches this week. For some strange reason Cornette named the members of 2 teams this week itself. I thought they’d do it at Sacrifice considering that to be the tournaments USP but no…….The stupidity continues.

Kip James now known as ‘Mega Star’ Kip (really cool name) is the partner of Matt Morgan. They try to talk with Kip calling himself the ‘Daddy’ of the team but Matt tells him to ‘suck it’. They = Brawl = Match where Kip gets pinned by the elevated bicycle kick. Next stop = Sacrifice.

The other match was the best part of the show. It was set up right in the beginning with James storm announced as Sting’s partner. Storm’s promo was excellent. It was even cooler to see Sting punch Storm in the face leading to their match. No DQ.

The in-ring work was generic and boring but the start with both brawling outside and the finish with Sting splashing Storm on the table and landing a second deathdrop for the pin was very cool. The overbooked presence of Jackie Moore was unnecessary and took away from the match.

TERROR DOME time: After having his a** border tossed so many times by Hernandez ,TNA decided to give Jimmy Rave a win .He was in a match with Sharkboy (shell yeah), Curry Man[!],Petey Williams, Johnny Devine & Consequences Creed in a 6 man non title X Division match. The point of this match was to remind us of the terror dome and the #1 contendership on the line.

Flips, kicks, punches, locks and cross body blocks made most of the match. Johnny Devine missing an awesome 450 splash was great. Many body benders and jaw breakers followed, with Curry Man [!] doing the DANCE with Hemme allowing Rave to sneak up, counter a spice rack and win.Yeah! for Rave.

The spots in the match were sold heavily by Consequences creed. An awesome senton splash and his CreeDDT.

Russo bash time: The pole match returned with the Knockouts all pushed into the ring trying to get a shaver of the pole on the turnbuckle. The stip being: She who gets the shaver doesn’t get their head shaved at Sacrifice.

The match came to life due to its execution. An awesome spot with a 5 woman pyramid; leading to all crashing to the mat. Moore tries to get the shaver thing but gets put through an electric chair by ODB and while she does the ODB flutter, Kim climbs, gets the shaver and Escapes the baldness at Sacrifice.

That’s all folks. At least next week will see the start of the build to SLAMMIVERSARY.

Here’s the Impactor mini:

Good: The 6 man X Division match, Sting vs. Storm.

Surprisingly good: The Knockouts ‘Head Shaver on a Pole’ Match

Funny as hell: Kip James calls HHH a big nose water spitter. He also calls himself ‘Daddy’ and ‘Mega Star’.

Stupid: Cornette announces two of the 4 tag teams for the Deuces Wild for no need. Nash doesn’t sell the Angle Slam.

Unnecessary: Nash main events the tag team match with Joe.LAX video.

Really irritating: Mike Tenay keeps using every possible innuendo to say “Sacrifice”.

Opening statements: Sometimes like last week things get heated. The intention from this side was never to degrade TNA, a company whose shows I have enjoyed ever since they debuted but to point out the obvious flaws in their programming. Flaws that are definitely there and being done simply without taking into consideration the long term interests of the fan or the prospective fan. So if things like that happen then one can’t simply agree with that principle and pass it off as great TV.

The Deuces Wild is perhaps an example of such a notion but while I continue to think the idea was unnecessary my interest has been heightened by this notion of random pairings.

Most of this week was drawn out to emphasize the tag team situation in TNA and that being solved by this Deuces Wild tournament. What was surprising that they went ahead and booked the show’s main event Steiner/Petey against Joe/angle also as a tag team match. This isn’t a problem on a regular show but for this show it was the 4^th straight tag team match. After watching 3 tag team matches on the trot I was craving for a good 1 on 1 match and a 2 minute match between knockouts Melissa and Haze doesn’t count as one.

The main event tag team match was acceptable; most of the match was worked by Joe and Petey. Petey of course being his team’s fallout boy eating most of the offense. Joe hit him with chops, punches and a few jab type pokes before tagging in Angle who didn’t do much just using his hands to land a few European upper cuts. Petey meanwhile co-ordinated most of the match hitting both Joe and Angle with many moves like the spinning heel kick, jaw breaker, a missile dropkick and his punches and clotheslines thrown in.

The finish with Joe building momentum and landing a few really cool power moves finishing Petey and the match with a muscle buster was well done. The after match chaos with Angle German suplexing Joe was awesome .Steiner then clocking Joe with the lead pipe and holding the title with Angle bad mouthing him from the tunnel entrance sold the main event for Sacrifice quite well.

The ever present backstage drama this week was AJ’s quest to find a tag team partner to enter the Deuces Wild after Tomko was ‘injured’ in an MMA fight in Japan. Booker T asking AJ who he was wasn’t in good taste. Not AJ. Nobody should do that to a 3 time former world champ. Can creative dig that -sucka?

Super Eric shows up as AJ’s partner to take on the Infection in the best match of the night. Very fast paced action that slowed down only when Hoyt was in the ring. AJ lands the flying forearm and the Pele. Rave sold the damage throughout the match. AJ finishes with an Enziguri and a hurricanrana setting up the DVD by Super Eric on Rave. The last minute of the match was very entertaining with even Don West appearing cool!

Tag team match #3 with the LAX against KAZ and Eric (not to be confused with Super Eric) was basically Homicide working a major part of the match setting up Hernandez now and then to hit a few of his power moves which are fun to watch.KAZ and Homicide didn’t wrestle their highflying style going instead for the grapple and hold style of wrestling. Thus we had a few locks and holds, whips and forearms being thrown. The spot of the match was KAZ spring boarding off the ropes only to be caught by Hernandez who then powerbombs him straight to the mat. The post- match conversation between Hector Guerrero and Homicide was alright.

ANOTHER tag team match featured Love and Sky also known as The Beautiful People taking on ODB and Kim. This angle was fairly well done. The commentary team kept selling the gimmick reverse battle royale with a ladder and a bald woman at Sacrifice while Love and Sky made fun of Kim and ODB as the bald chicks with photo evidence.

The part where ODB entered mocking Sky and Love was pure gold. Ask Kurt angle - he’ll probably say it was damn real. The match itself was not good though way better than a WWE divas match. The finish with Roxxi Laveaux showing up and nailing that awesome Voodoo Drop while displaying her psycho smile was also real;Damn real.

TNA’s newest gimmick: THE TERROR DOME was unveiled. It’s a dome shaped cage with a hole at the top. The one who goes through the hole first wins. Since they are talking about the X division in there, at least the match has potential. Whether it succeeds or sucks will be made clear at Sacrifice.

Deuces Wild showed up again in the last segment with Cornette announcing The Egotistical Eight. Faces at the face tunnel- Sting, Booker-T, B.G James and Matt Morgan. Heels at the heel tunnel -Robert Roode,James Storm,Kip James and AWESOME KONG but dude, she’s a chick.

With Kong in the tournament things should get more interesting.

Done with Awesome Kong and speaking of the Awesome Bong-The dudes are back. “Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay” released over the weekend and is damn funny plus GTA 4 is here; just in case you get bored with wrestling.

Here’s a list of all the funny match names TNA has come up with over the years:

1. Texas Blindfold Match

2. Raven’s House Of Fun

3. Last Rites Match

4. Doomsday Chamber Of Blood

5. Fish Market Street Fight

6. Hangman’s Horror Match(Dog Collar Match)

7. Match Of 10,000 Tacks

8. Shop Of Horrors

9. First Blood Steel Chair On A Pole Match

10. Serengeti Survival Match

11. Full Metal Mayhem Match

12. Prison Yard Match

13. The Terror Dome

Phew!

Don: “We’re all about taking, not giving. If you give Sharkboy a shell yeah! He doesn’t give anything back in return.”

Don: “We have a new Gimmick for Booker T; we plan on having him dig his nose every week on Impact. We’re going to start calling him Booger T after that.”

Don: “Did you know Killer Is Rellik spelt backwards?”

Adit: “Why are you telling me all this?”

Don: “Oh! We don’t believe in good story lines .We’ve got great wrestlers but we believe in making them do stupid things. We also like overbooking and we love Gimmicks ……absolutely love ‘em. That’s why we did something called DEUCES WILD.”

Adit: “Un-buh-lievable!”

Opening statements: Wrestling wise this week’s show was very good. The stuff they built around that was absolutely stupid. It spoilt the entire feel of the show. After last week, I got a ton of mails accusing me of hating TNA. In my defense, I thought last week’s show sucked, please read all my blogs here before making up your mind and calling me a TNA hater.

Sacrifice is usually a filler PPV. Nothing much ever happens on it. Wrestling wise it’s worth a definite watch but that’s all it ever does. This week had its main event decided. Kurt Angle enforced his rematch for the title after his Lockdown loss. Since most of the show was filled with Gimmicks TNA had no choice but to give this match some time and the match delivered.

Kurt was on fire and wrestling in his singlet. Joe used a lot of his regular moves-the chops, the facewash, a really cool decapitation clothesline and a flying elbow shot. Angle used his punches, European upper cuts, an awesome belly 2 belly suplex over his head and a release German suplex. The rest of the match was a lot of selling and some pretty generic moves fused with the cool ones like Irish whips and body shots. It was great to see Angle go for the moonsault and Joe using the spinebuster.

The finish was pretty cool designed to prevent Angle losing clean two times in succession with Steiner coming in and nailing the ref with a lead pipe. That led to Cornette making a 3 way a.k.a a triple threat match for Sacrifice. At stake: Joe’s world title. This match should be good but it’s safe to assume Steiner will get pinned allowing Joe to retain.

That was of course the good part, the stupidity started right at the beginning of the show.

Like I said last week LAX won a title match at Destination X .It would have made sense to have them taking on Styles and Tomko or Kaz and Super Eric with the titles at stake. Homicide, AJ and KAZ would have put on a clinic. Instead the debauchery of last week continued and things that needed to be explained like how the titles got held up without LAX being considered was conveniently skipped by.

There was no match between Booker T and Sting after last week with Booker having challenged Sting. Booker forgave Sting. Another skip by TNA. The promo was good with Booker talking to Sting but why advertise a match that won’t occur in the first place?

Ahem-to get more than a 1.0 rating.

Why are they getting a 1.0 rating-because they advertise matches that don’t take place.

The heel team of Roode and Storm interrupt but they and we get interrupted by Jim Cornette.

This is where we start having fun. Since the tag titles are vacated for no reason. A tournament of epic proportions will be created, the DEUCES WILD tag team tournament. The object of this tournament is to crown new tag team champions.

This is how it works.8 guys on Impact will compete in teams of two.3 matches follow with one winning team. This part of the tournament is composed of regular tag teams.

At Sacrifice there will be another 8 men competing in teams of two with 3 matches taking place. The winner of that part will face the winner of the first part composed of the regular tag teams.

What’s the catch?-the other 8 guys will be randomly determined singles wrestlers[Translation by TNA: We don't know what to do with them, that's why we have them wrestling, just to make them work for the money we pay them]

It sounds confusing as hell. Cornette wants to make this clear by passing around ‘written material’ to explain this. He’ll probably send me one too.

So the rest of the show was only tag team matches broken up by silly and needless promos. Team 3D took on Reign and the backwards killer RELLIK in a pretty decent match but by that time I was exhausted by Cornette trying to explain the DEUCES WILD so I just sat through doing nothing.

Another tag team match followed with Christian and Rhino taking on the Guns. This was pretty lengthy and athletic. Christian and Shelley wrestled a very athletic first part doing some mat work. Kicks follow and Rhino’s in with a Belly To Belly suplex on Sabin. The remaining match was quite fast paced with many tags exchanged nestled with punches,kicks,clotheslines,a springboard clothesline by Sabin, a frog splash by Christian and a very cool double DDT by Sabin. The finish saw the Guns getting buried ……again with a simultaneous Gore and an Unprettier getting the win for Cage and Rhino.

Yet Another tag team match followed with Storm and Roode taking on Sting and Booker T. This was also a pretty good and lengthy match with Roode and Storm tagging in and out working on Booker. The spot of the night came with Sting on the ropes trying to superplex Roode but power bombed by Storm causing all three guys to crash to the mat. The end was pretty entertaining with Storm arguing with Roode setting up Sting with the deathdrop on Storm getting the pin.

The best part of the show was easily the wrestling with all matches delivering and the title match being simply superb but the Gimmicks just ruined it.

So in honor of the Gimmicks, here’s a Gimmick count instead of the Impactor mini

#1 Gimmick name-DEUCES WILD

#2 Gimmick tournament- DEUCES WILD

#3 Gimmick rules- DEUCES WILD

#4 Gimmick format- DEUCES WILD

#5 Gimmick explanation- DEUCES WILD

#6 Gimmick “written material“- DEUCES WILD

#7 Gimmick match-”Battle Royal Makeover”

#8 Gimmick-in-Gimmick-Battle Royale

#9 Gimmick in Gimmick name-Britney spears makeover

#10 Gimmick stip: Loser gets head shaved bald

#11 Gimmick fun line-Cornette and Strawberries

#12 Gimmick in progress-Jim Cornette’s cage+ Steel+ Twisted thing

#13 Gimmick name in progress - Jim Cornette’s Cage+ Steel+ Twisted thing

#14 Gimmick worst line: Kurt Angle-”When there’s a Kurt and Joe there’s no Kurt and Karen”

??????

Yeah right!

Opening statements: Lockdown was an awesome PPV. I enjoyed 85% of the show which I thought was very good. The highlights were of course the 2 main events. I did an appraisal of the show the past week which you can read at this link. I’d like to know what you guys thought as well.

Those TNA guys get on my nerves sometimes. My central nervous system is still trying to decode that which TNA calls entertainment. It’s a company that is adept at breaking that which is perfectly fine and then taking credit for fixing that which they broke in the first place.

For the 3^rd damn time they’ve changed LAX’s music. I liked the renegade feel of the 1^st two with the gunshot intro. Now they have some popped up version trying to please our eardrums with the restrained finesse of Mozart or Beethoven.LAX is one of the few homegrown TNA talents and I mean a really well made outfit.

They put a big guy and a small guy who can wrestle and can carry the gimmick beautifully. They make them champs twice and then bury them for a year. At Destination X I thought that making them # 1 contenders was proof that TNA had realized that they had done something stupid and wanted to make it right .But wait, this week all of that washed down the drain. First of all I don’t understand how the tag team title shot was not claimed by LAX.

Now we have them doing a 3 way with Styles/Tomko and Kaz /Eric for the titles. A pretty generic match that was watchable thanks to Kaz and AJ. Awesome Flux Capacitor from Kaz. EY disappearing meant Super Eric arrives. They win the belts but AJ appeals and I totally hated West and Tenay trying to make sense of that.

AJ has been spending too much time with the Angles, that crown seems to be cutting off the blood supply to his brain as a result of which his intellect is so twisted that he thinks Eric and Super Eric are two different people. Cornette appears and some stuff intended to be funny follows. “Commissioner Gordon”, etc, etc .The result ends up with the titles vacated for no apparent reason.

The good entertainment part of this show was the opening Joe promo. A very well cut dialogue with some cool lines. Steiner wasn’t that bad either. Angle does a good job too and enforces his rematch clause. Okay next week then.

Steiner awards the X Division title shot to Petey Pump who looks damn funny in the Viking head gear. I thought the X Division wasn’t about weight limits. It’s about no limits. Clearly not.TNA thinks the X title is too inferior to be held by Steiner .Petey made a huge sacrifice by wearing the head gear and shaving his head. He is thus rewarded with the X Division title case/shot by Steiner.

So does that mean if I walk around for 3 weeks with a muscular All-American and a scantily clad woman and cuff my hands, covering my face with a black bag and then get a haircut and wear a piece of Viking chain mail ,do I get an X Division title shot?

Hmmm-Maybe I should cross the line.

Machismo wrestles with Johnny Devine in a match that’s filled with slams, whips, couple of dropkicks and a moonsault. He finishes with the Lethal combo and lands the elbow to retain when Petey appears and does a Rated R beatdown and cashes in his title shot. Nails the Canadian destroyer. WINNER + new champ.

Clearly, TNA hates Sonjay Dutt.4 years in the company and not a single title. Maybe TNA wants only those Indians to hold the belt who are 7 feet tall and can say GWAHHHHH.

Some wrestling did happen in a good match between Team 3D against Christian and Rhino. Cage opens with Brother Ray. Lands an awesome cork screw elbow. Chops and punches and tags Rhino who cleans house allowing Cage to tuck in and nail an awesome flying cross body. The match continues with the testified Devon against Cage who sells the tired partner. Devon nails an awesome delayed vertical. Cage manages the hot tag to Rhino who nails 3D with a couple of Rhino moves.

Finish happens with Rhino mistakingly hitting Christian and Devon missing Rhino and nailing Ray. Rhino immediately goes for the roll up and gets the win. Oh wait this is TNA, Team 3D fight among themselves, security appears, I will be thrilled waiting for Rough Cut with Team 3D to happen!

P.S: What happened to weighing in under 275 lbs?

Queen of the cage Roxxi against Awesome Kong follows for the title. Roxxi holds her own with punches, fore arm shots and elbows but Kong is too big. Kong applied the camel clutch earlier and finishes later with the Awesome bomb from Awesome Kong. Another wasted title shot booked by TNA.

The show closed with TNA’s favorite main event-the 6 man tag match/war. Sting, Booker T and BG against Kip, Storm and Roode. Match opens with Kip and Booker. Few body shots and Roode tagged in. BG follows a few seconds’ later.BG- punches on members of the heel team. Tags exchange and its Storm against Booker who lands a couple of kicks and a spine buster. He goes for the Spin- A- Roony but that damn Robert Roode interrupts with a kick setting up the ref distraction.

Storm then gets nailed with the elevated bicycle kick from Matt Morgan. Sorry about his damn luck. Booker is pissed but gets the victory with a pin of a scissors kick.

Argument between him and the other guys. He apparently didn’t like Morgan’s interference. Sting is a bad man because he allowed Morgan to interfere. Booker then challenges Sting next week, Tenay goes crazy.

You dig.

Here’s the Impactor mini:

GOOD: Cage/Rhino against Team 3D.Roxxi against Kong. The opening Joe/Steiner/Angle promo.

SUPER STUPID: EVERYTHING ELSE.

Oh hell yeah!

The objective of this blog isn’t to critique the matches of TNA Lockdown. It is rather to appreciate the salient features that stood out .I will start with the first one, most obviously that Joe became the champ …….finally.

The first time I saw this guy was in TNA, I knew that Joe had indeed worked some fantastic matches in ROH but I had not heard of ROH at that time. The reason I started watching ROH was because of Samoa Joe and since then I’ve been hooked on to both Joe and ROH. For a guy who is 280 pounds Joe is extremely agile. That is perhaps a feature of all Samoan wrestlers. What stands out about him is that he has the stamina of an Elephant-the guy can just go on and on and if you give him a long match with the right guy then he will deliver.

That brings to question his opponent for Lockdown on Sunday-Did Kurt Angle look good in the match? Yes he did and he made Joe look good. Kurt Angle is easily the best technical wrestler in the world and I don’t care what anyone says. Technical wrestlers understand the hard basics of wrestling. How joints work, their movements, the distribution of weight, etc. Physical principles like Weight and Center of Gravity matter. That’s why Joe doing the match with Kurt Angle made sense even if it was for the billionth time. Even if the match was heavily worked to suit MMA, trying to hold a 200 pound + man and jamming your elbow into him without hurting him is difficult.

The highlight of the show was easily the Lethal Lockdown match.TNA does matches with more than 4 guys wrestling better than any other company .They find a way to make the match work with all the participants involved. If one guy is jumping from the top the others usually stand below to catch him. The result is a breathtaking few seconds of great television. Spots look damn good.

The Lethal Lockdown this year saw the evolution of a good wrestler into someone who can be great: Christian Cage. No longer can I remember him as the cocky, funny, long haired douche bag but a serious competitor and a main eventer.He was easily the MVP of Lethal Lockdown for me. His stamina over the years has greatly improved, he’s added more moves to his repertoire and he’s learnt to sell dangerous moves without hurting his opponents. His spot on top of the cage with the ladder, the table and 2 other guys was the best Lethal Lockdown spot of all time bettering AJ’s jump on Rhino from the ladder last year.

That said TNA better make sure that such dangerous spots do not occur again. They could end up being disastrous as hell.

Jimmy Rave has become adept to looking like someone who can sell the coolest moves. His lightweight is an added advantage. He’s also a damn good mat wrestler. He balanced himself beautifully while Crazy KAZ did the Flux Capacitor from the top of the cage!!!!!. I want to see Rave feud with Alex Shelley. That would be awesome. Let’s also not forget the number of times Jimmy Rave has sold Hernandez’s Border Toss. If Hernandez had his way he’d have chucked Rave all the way to Puerto Rico!

The last thing of note from this PPV is easily the evolution of Gail Kim. Back in the WWE she was pushed as a second rung jealous heel.TNA has brought out the greatness in her and I am astonished at what she has become. Kim has proven herself to be an extremely good worker and a competent wrestler. Anyone that can sell Kong in a street fight the way she did deserves kudos. She is easily today’s best female wrestler and I rate her higher than Mickie James, Beth Phoenix and many of the Shimmer wrestlers.

TNA Lockdown delivered, maybe the undercard wasn’t that great but the main events compensated for all that. Joe’s era began and for 2 and a half hours out of 3 ,I was highly entertained. My advice: Buy the replay if you haven’t already seen the show.

You won’t be disappointed. This was easily TNA’s best PPV since Bound for Glory last year.

]]> http://www.wrestlingnewsworld.com/blog-spot/adits-edittna-lockdowndid-cross-line/feed/ http://www.wrestlingnewsworld.com/blog-spot/chris-reviews-smackdown-aftermath-wrestlemania/ http://www.wrestlingnewsworld.com/blog-spot/chris-reviews-smackdown-aftermath-wrestlemania/#comments Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:40:26 +0000 Chris Jacks http://www.wrestlingnewsworld.com/blog-spot/?p=85 Hey everyone and welcome to this weeks edition of Chris Reviews Smackdown. In this weeks blog I will be giving you my Wrestlemania thoughts, discussing this week’s show, Matt Hardy’s stellar return, the temporary end of The Rated R Era and more. Please read and leave some feedback for me via the comment board.

First off I just want to say Wrestlemania 24 was an amazing event. It delivered on every level and I loved every single minute of it. My party turned into a bit of a disaster as the curse of Virgin Media (UK cable company) struck again and we lost the feed for the second year in a row! Luckily some of our other friends were also holding a Wrestlemania party so we managed to dash round just in time to catch MITB.

Prediction wise I did ok getting 5 of my choices correct. Generally the less predictions I get correct the more I will enjoy the event as it become less predictable and more exciting, the exception being a match like MITB which is going to be quality whatever happens, just so happens this year I got the winner right!

The Finlay vs JBL match was an excellent way to open the show. Due to my loss of feed I missed this match but have since watched it online and it was pretty brutal and enjoyable. Looks like this program is set to continue as JBL picked up the win much to mine and everyone else’s surprise, major props to Sharpshooter who correctly predicted this one via the comment board on last weeks blog.

I was very surprised that MITB was the second match on the card but it truly kept the momentum of the show going. This was a phenomenal match with some insane spots. How is Shelton Benjamin still able to walk? Crazy stuff! Also the spot where Morrison did the Moonsault with a ladder was insane! This was in my opinion the best MITB so far. And best of all it featured the return of one Matt Hardy who as I predicted came out and did an insane Twist of Fate from a ladder on MVP to continue their feud. I am glad CM Punk won the match and I will be interested to see where they take his character from here. I would personally enjoy seeing Punk chasing the WWE title on RAW but it seems set for a long battle between Orton, Cena and Triple H so perhaps have Punk going after The Undertaker instead. Now that would be a feud!

The Batista vs Umaga match was impressive as I expected it would be. Very impressed with how Batista managed to save the Batista Bomb at the end of the match. I predicted this one completely wrong but thoroughly enjoyed it. I really hope Umaga makes his way to Smackdown to continue this feud although it looks like we may be getting a Batista vs Shawn Michaels program now and believe me I am totally fine with that!

The ECW title match was a little disappointing, I would have at least liked to see creative give Chavo a chance against Kane although this does give Kane a very dominant start as champion. I am guessing WWE creative have hope we have all forgotten the amount of times Kane has lost to Khali! Once again I got the impression this was Vince spitting in the face of ECW but with everything else he has done to the brand is it really that much of a surprise?

The career ending match of Ric Flair was breathtaking to watch. Absolutely brilliant pure wrestling throughout and an early contender for match of the year if not match of the decade. Both guys worked so hard and Michaels had some insane spots such as Moonsaulting through the announcer’s table, that looked painful! Flair wrestled such an impressive match and I truly believe he could just go on and on. It pains me to realise that we may never get a chance to see Ric Flair in a Wrestling match again, however this match combined with the touching send off on Monday’s RAW helps ensure that Flair received one of the most legendary send offs in Wrestling history. Thank you Ric! You will be missed.

The Bunnymania match was saved by Santino and some good booking by WWE. When Santino came out taking a starring role in Melina’s entrance I do not think I have ever laughed so much, comedy stuff! I also enjoyed how WWE booked Beth over Maria as it kept their women’s champion looking strong and hopefully now this playboy business is over for another year we can go back to actual Women’s wrestling. I would be really up for seeing Victoria come back to RAW and challenging Beth for that Women’s title. Snoop Dogg was pretty funny as well when he took out Santino, would it have been too much to ask him to learn his lines though?

The Triple Threat Match for the WWE title was superb. I was so into this match from start to finish. There were some points I was screaming for Orton not to tap out to Cena. It was exhilarating stuff and all three guys worked so hard and showed why they are the top three superstars in the company without a shadow of a doubt. I was very happy to see Orton retain, its cements him as a proper champion have now beaten both Triple H at No Mercy and Wrestlemania and also pinning John Cena at Wrestlemania. Great match and great result, in addition it ended Cena’s “streak” at Wrestlemania. The fact that Cena did not win meant I enjoyed his presence in this match and I believe he brought a lot to the table as did Triple H. However there is no doubt we are now in the Orton Era and long may it continue!

The Big Show vs Mayweather match was so much better than I was expecting. I am so thrilled that WWE did not let Mayweather beat Big Show cleanly and instead needed help from his posse, a chair and some brass knuckles. This was a very enjoyable match although I felt it should have been slightly lower down the card, Flair/HBK and the Triple Threat certainly should have been after it at any rate. I am very much looking forward to seeing Big Show take on some proper wrestlers now although from the last week of television it looks like its going to be Khali so I may have to wait for this wish to be fulfilled a little longer!

The main event between Undertaker and Edge was truly special and without a doubt a 5 star main event! So many counters, near falls and great spots had me glued to the edge of my seat for the duration of the match. True it marked the end of the Rated R Era for now but what a way to end it in style. I was marking out big time when Edge hit that final spear, for a second thinking he could be winning until Undertaker locked in that submission move of his. I really hope Undertaker gets a long title run that is not disrupted by injury, he sure as hell has earned it, this was my favourite Undertaker match since his legendary clash with Triple H at Wrestlemania 17. It really was that good!

So with my Wrestlemania thoughts out of the way its on to this weeks show

The show opens with Team Rated R making their way to the ring minus their titles which they lost at Wrestlemania. Interesting to see Edge wearing the new Chavo T-shirt! Edge began by apologising to everyone including Vickie for losing to The Undertaker, Chavo proceeds to say how he let the family down. This was a great promo from the heels with both of them getting plenty of stick from the crowd. Chavo has come on a lot during his run with the ECW title. Vickie booked both title rematches for Backlash. Lets hope Chavo actually gets a move in on Kane this time! Kind of mystifying how Vickie can now book an ECW title match, I thought that was Estrada’s job. Ah well the wonders of being a Guerrero!

The first match of the night saw MVP taking on the returning Matt Hardy. Wow it really seems just like this feud is picking up where it left off. Matt did a great job against Orton on RAW on Monday and I am so pleased to see him back on Smackdown. Anyone who reads my blogs on a regular basis will know how much I have been looking forward to this moment. This started off as a total brawl with Matt getting in much of the early offensive. These two have lost none of their in ring chemistry and I am really looking forward to a potential Backlash encounter between these two. Hopefully next week we will be seeing Matt Hardy as a guest in the VIP lounge once again. This was a very good match which was given plenty of time and with Matt showing no signs of any ring rust, guess those extra few weeks off made the world of difference for him. Very impressive how Matt targeted MVP’s knee in revenge for the injuries MVP inflicted on Matt all those months ago. Matt picking up the win via a Twist Of Fate. Wow what a match and certainly reinforcing just how much we have missed Matt Hardy on Smackdown! Matt has come back to save us!

Next up Zak Ryder of the Edgeheads or The Rated R Entourage as they call themselves was taking on Festus in singles action. I really hope this develops into a feud to determine the Number One contenders for the tag belts. Festus did a lot early on in this match to demonstrate his position as one of the top power house wrestlers on Smackdown, he is certainly the most unorthodox! Zak Ryder, who continues to impress me, certainly gave Festus more of a challenge than others have done, this match however was all about the impressive Festus and I continue to enjoy his character developing week by week on Smackdown.

Next up we got to see Ric Flair’s farewell address from RAW on Monday. This was one of the most emotional moments I have ever seen in Wrestling. If I can get hold of this video it is so going up on my Myspace. Have to admit it brought a tear to my eye once again.

Next up HBK made his way out to the ring and gave a very emotional speech about how he feels about retiring Ric Flair and how he now feels he has closure. However Batista interrupts Shawn to a huge pop. I really like they way creative are teasing a potential feud between these two. There is a rumour going around that HBK could be on his way to Smackdown and that for me would be one of the greatest draft picks of all time. Nice comment from Batista saying “Oh that’s right the Showstopper doesn’t do jobs” This was a very believable promo from Batista, probably one of the best he has done. If these two feuded I will be glued to the TV. Roll on the next WWE draft and bring HBK to Smackdown!

Vladimir Kozlov finally made his debut after working dark matches for the last few weeks. However after the last segment I honestly do not think anyone really cared too much for this match, it was a total squash and the crowd were dead throughout. I have heard some good things about Kozlov though, I can imagine he could put on some good matches against the likes of Kane or Umaga. He looked powerful but I will reserve judgement until he is given a real opponent.

Awesome John Morrison is on Smackdown again. Coolest entrance in WWE ever! This week our WWE tag team champions were taking on Team Yang once again. I really hope these two teams would properly resume their excellent feud. A ladder match between these two teams would be something to see. This was very quick match with Morrison picking up the quick victory, things ended up with The Great Khali coming out and destroying everyone. Disgusting! How can Smackdown creative allow this idiot so easily destroy 4 great athletes? However The Big Show came out to save the day and stood toe to toe with Khali and forced him to back down. If these two had a feud or even a match I would be rooting for Big Show all the way and it least it would keep Khali from squashing the roster.

Next up came the finale of the diva contest and Teddy Long was in the ring with some motorbike people. Cherry has her own theme music now, perhaps a sign she will be getting a larger role from now on. Michelle got her usual positive reaction. I could see her on RAW feuding with Beth. That was a nice bike Michelle won. I hope she gets to keep it! Victoria once again made this segment. Next up NATTIE NEIDHART DEBUED and absolutely kicked ass! Now that’s what I’m talking about: A proper women’s wrestler! Smackdown is starting to get a proper women’s division and I would just really like to see all of the proper female wrestlers on one brand in order to get some decent feuds and matches going. Then perhaps WWE could start to rival TNA’s excellent Knockout division.

Main event time next as the Brothers of Destruction squared off against one another. I was disappointed to see Undertaker has gone back to his hat and coat. The Wrestlemania Ministry style jacket he wore on Sunday was awesome and I was hoping he would be keeping it from now on. I knew this would be a good match, Kane and Undertaker work so well together whether that is as opponents or allies and I was not disappointed here. This was a very even match with both champions looking very strong. Whilst in previous encounters Undertaker has certainly dominated this time the brothers just seemed to counter each other out and instead wrestled a good technical match to begin with and developed into a slug fest as things developed. Great moment when both champions sat up at exactly the same time. Team Rated R charged into the ring and commenced a beat down but Undertaker and Kane fought back and performed tandem chokeslams and tombstones. What a fantastic moment. I will be happy to watch these two as champions and long may they reign. And we got the awesome Brothers of Destruction ring exit and this time once again they are both champions. Great stuff!

This was an excellent post pay per view edition of Smackdown, normally post per view shows can lag somewhat but that was not the case here at all. I did not enjoy seeing Khali decimate four of the best athletes on the roster and the Kozlov debut was a non event in my books. However the rest of the show was excellent, the tandem moves in the main event were a joy to watch and it was great to see Nattie Neidhart finally debut. Match of the week though without a doubt was Matt Hardy vs MVP. Great stuff!

This weeks edition of Smackdown scores a good 8/10

That is all for this weeks edition of Chris Reviews Smackdown. I will be back next week with Chris Reviews Smackdown. Please leave me some feedback on the comment board and I will try and get back to you. As always I can be contacted on a_agreement_called_forever@hotmail.com and www.myspace.com/agreement_called_forever

Until next time Matt Hardy has come to save us!

Smackdown Power 10
1: The Undertaker (+1)
2: Kane (+3)
3: Edge (-2)
4: Batista (-1)
5: MVP (-1)
6: The Big Show
7: Jesse and Festus
8: Matt Hardy (NE)
9: Victor Kozlov (NE)
10: The Edgeheads

The title feud between Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe has been built on the fact that it’s Joe’s last chance. If this were the WWE we would have had JR or Cole trying to plug a stip like this at the top of their voices.TNA has managed to create interest in this feud without even having one of the competitors in the ring for over a month. That’s a good thing in this case because Joe and Angle have been at each other ever since Angle debuted in TNA. Trying the same stuff over and over would have guys like us hating on them.

This is why TNA have built Lockdown with two main events. A Lethal Lockdown and the Title match. There are Russo haters everywhere who pick on him, I do too sometimes but for this PPV I’ve gotta hand it to him and the other bookers. They‘ve done a damn good job. The storylines have made sense; the character building has been good. The result is simple:

At Lockdown TNA will be forced to deliver a good wrestling show especially the title match because as said earlier one competitor has been absent from the ring for over 4 weeks. So expect Joe and Angle to be at their best. Joe will be, because of the stip and the fact that he might( WILL) become champ and Kurt Angle almost always delivers in the ring.TNA also delivers a damn good Lethal Lockdown filled with excellent spots every year.

This week saw the continued build of those two main events. Kurt Angle asking Joe to sign a contract stating he will quit TNA if Angle doesn’t tap or be pinned was a good effect to play heel. Steiner interrupting to say that he would cash in his title shot at Sacrifice and the brilliant line “I don’t wanna shake your hand, with the way Joe’s training, you’re not going to win” was awesome.

Another Joe training video with Marcus Davis (UFC guy) was all that was done for the title feud .It was the end of that build for the show but was good enough to be damn good. The remaining part of the show focused on Lethal Lockdown.

Those who don’t know what Lethal Lockdown is should pay attention. The match starts 1 on 1 until every few seconds a new guy enters. When all ten are in, a roof full of weapons drops down -complementary fireworks included. The cage is then closed and the first team to secure a pin or a submission wins.

With last week’s last minute stip made by Matt Morgan allowing Team Tomko to have as member # 5 in James Storm this week saw Team Cage acting like they’d go into Lockdown with 4 guys.

All of that boiled down in a very well done match and segment with Storm taking on Sting with Matt Morgan as the ref. A ringside brawl starts the match with Sting bashing Storm into a wall type thing. Into the ring and a couple of heel tactics by Storm building to the climax with Morgan throwing Sting the bat, turning away when Sting nailed Storm , who used the Scorpion Death Drop and gets the pin.

Team Tomko appears and gets in Morgan’s face until Team Cage showed up and a fight ensued. Morgan in the ring meanwhile planted the testified D-Von with an awesome elevated bicycle kick and finally landed an awesome-er Vertical suplex side slam on AJ leading to Team Cage getting into the ring and Cage tears Morgan’s ref shirt to reveal the Team Cage T-shirt and Mike Tenay goes nuts!

That was awesome.

The other awesome match was LAX and the Guns against Rock and Rave Infection +Black Reign +the Backwards Killer RELLIK. Match started with a couple of fast counters between Sabin and Rave. Tags in and out with wrestlers using offensive moves. Homicide does the suicide dive but the match clearly belonged to Hernandez. Amazing offensive arsenal used and the match ends with him throwing Jimmy Rave like a basket ball with a BORDER TOSS (ouch!) to get the pin.

I like Stone Cold Sharkboy (unlike Richard Gray).This week the drinker of clam juice took on Elix Skipper in an xscape qualifier. The match was pretty decent. Very quick spots. Sharkboy does the corner kicks. A couple of suplexes and the Thesz Press. Primetime lands a couple of kicks, eats a nasty top rope hurricanrana, also lands a decent belly to belly suplex but alas Sharkboy qualifies with the stunner.

Give him a shell yeah!

Non Title Tag team match AJ/Tomko against Cage/Rhino. Most of this match was Cage working it for his team. Rhino lands a quick spot before tagging in Cage who ate a lot of the offense from team Tomko including an awesome Pele from AJ .

Rest of the match was punches,elbows,clotheslines,chops,a DDT, a powerslam and a couple of running Enziguris .The finish was a hot tag to Rhino who cleaned house with a gore on AJ turning him inside out ! And Cage at the same time landing the Unprettier on Tomko. The finish was Nash in with a chair after 3D interfere,Rhino gores the ref. giving a DQ win to the champs.

P.S: Velvet Revolver is awesome and so is Rush Hour (the movie).

Here’s the Impactor mini:

Awesome: The Joe-Angle Lockdown build. The last segment with Cage tearing Matt Morgan’s T-shirt revealing him to be #5.Border toss on Jimmy Rave (!!!!!!!).

Good: The LAX /MCMG against Rock and Rave and Monsters match. Rhino/Cage v Styles /Tomko. Sharkboy v Skipper. Sting v James Storm.

Super Stupid: Traci Brooks v Banks done to push of all people Sharmell. Booker T drawn into a stupid story line. Robert Roode wasted. The backwards killer RELLIK does a promo.

Stupid: Kong-Saeed full blown interview, not funny like before.

Funny: Eric Young, Kurt Angle segment -“I’m the only superhero here”

LMAO funny: Black Machismo about to kiss Val when Sonjay pops up from the water. Machismo-“Sonjay, where’s the snake”

Cool Moment: Curry Man [ ! ] backstage dance with Crystal.

Get ready for the Consequences.

Ans: Bobby Lash-Lee.

Chuckle, Chuckle, Chuckle.

TNA’s first live show contained obvious bloopers, in spite of which the show delivered maybe not in terms of content and wrestling but probably the most important factor of all for a live show and that’s creating a live environment and a live feel.

That was the most heartening thing to see.WWE Raw used to create a damn good live feel but over the years they’ve gotten into this stale routine of packaging the show with absolutely no juice.TNA didn’t do that for this one, they put on a quality show and considering it was their first, they did a damn good job.

Back when I used to watch Nitro and WCW were really pushing Sting they did an awesome job of hyping his presence live. His crow would show up, Metallica’s ‘Seek And Destroy’ would hit, Sting would look down from the rafters and the NWO would start running.TNA didn’t create such a feel but did enough to remind me of the good ol’ days. They concentrated on the wrestling and showing Robbie McAllister’s face on Live TV was a touch of sneakiness and an example of things that can happen on live TV.

The things that sucked are those things that that have been sucking for quite a while. Karen Angle’s interview and the whole love triangle nonsense is exactly that: NONSENSE. Booker T‘s never ending feud with Roode is boring. Having an inter gender tag team match at Lockdown doesn’t help the storyline .I’m not even going to try and plug this storyline. I hope for a good wrestling match at Lockdown but with Sharmell and Banks hanging around expect some theatrics.

The first match of the night was pretty good. Alex Shelley losing and missing out on a place in the Xscape match at Lockdown is BS. The wrestling was ordinary. Lots of hands thrown, lariats, clotheslines and a couple of Irish whips. The good thing was that the spots landed were pretty quick.Shelley used a suicide dive, a moonsault of the ropes and a quick spine buster. The finish off a camera shot to the face and Devine hitting the ‘Devine intervention’ gets him the win. It still sucks that Shelley’s not in the Xscape match.

Steiner and Petey taking on LAX with the ladies hanging around showed it to be a counter fest that lasted a couple of minutes. Steiner uses the chops, clotheslines and the Belly 2 Belly suplexes which looked really cool. Petey hardly noticeable in the match. Homicide carries Steiner and Petey throughout the match. Lands a real cool looking suicide dive. Hernandez does a brief spot in the match; a Crackerjack on Petey & a Powerbomb. Homicide finally gets a win by reversing the Canadian destroyer into an exploder variation suplex on Petey. All this while the ladies brawl outside .I’m definitely interested in seeing what’s going on between Steiner and Petey with this whole cuff and bag routine.

Booker v Robert Roode was perhaps a tad more interesting with the first blood stip as voted by TNA fans on the website. A generic match at least from Booker’s point of view. Punches, kicks, clotheslines and Irish whips. Just way too many of them sown around chair shots and offense trying to further the first blood stip. The chair shots from Roode and Booker’s win easily marked out. If this match was slow paced then it would have sucked, it wasn’t hence it worked.

The other vote-in match between Kong and ODB with TNA fans choosing Kong’s opponent just minutes before the match was awesome to further the live feel.ODB enters and the zone goes crazy. Kong works her spots and does the huge dominating power moves. Using the camel clutch was definitely innovative. It was awesome seeing her trying to splash ODB from the top rope.ODB’s offensive response was trivial just a lot of hand work and body shots but Kong does the backfist + awesome bomb from awesome Kong combo to finish off a very entertaining match.

The title build at Lockdown continued very well. It is truly creative seeing TNA build the Joe–Angle title match without an in ring confrontation, Joe doing the promo live via satellite felt live and it was indeed good.TNA also used Angle jerking around Tomko and Styles in part 2 of his workout to further Sting’s return. Just a bunch of funny stuff until Rhino (gore, gore, gore) shows up with Cage and Nash wanting to give a real workout to Angle. Routine beatdown occurs with Team 3D increasing Angle’s numbers until lights out and Sting shows up for the first time in 2008.

I like.

The main event set up with Sting being Team Cage’s 4th member and both completed teams taking on each other was a very, very good match. The fact that it was live certainly added a lot more interest to it.TNA booked the match perfectly. It was ideally long for a main event tag team match. Cage and AJ starting off trade a few counters. AJ uses the elbow and a few forearm shots and misses a DDT. Cage misses the unprettier but tags in Nash who uses the side slam and a few boring moves on Tomko who was tagged in by AJ. Tomko does the powermove body shots allowing Nash to get tagged by Rhino.

The rest of the match was basically team Tomko working around Rhino in their corner .Frequently tagging in and out and laying a large number of holds on him and a few tossups here and there UNTIL Rhino manages a hot tag to the Stinger. Sting appears to be faster than before. He was amazing cleaning house and doing the Stinger splash on absolutely everyone on Tomko’s team. It was a really cool spot with the crowd going crazy. Sting then uses the atomic drop, death drop, death lock combo and finally makes D-Von (testify) tap out. Somewhere in the middle was another spot fest with AJ doing the flying forearm shot and Rhino with the gore, gore, gore on Brother Ray, D-Von taps giving the Stinger a victory.

I also liked that James Storm showed up and absolutely smashed his beer bottle on Sting’s head after the match.TNA obviously want to feed him to Sting to make him look stronger.

The show was good overall, Lockdown is looking awesome. Well done TNA. Most of the booking is logical and that’s not a bad thing, it’s a good thing. Just ask DDP.

Here’s the Impactor mini:

Awesome: The live show feels real and live, Sting is back.

Good: The Kong/ODB match, Devine v Shelley, Booker v Robert Roode first blood, LAX v Steiner and Petey.Samoa Joe promo.

LMAO: Sonjay Dutt shows up again in the Val/Machismo skit. Raisha Saeed reads a Kong warning. Angle workout # 2.

Stupid: Karen Angle, Booker T/Robert Roode never ending storyline+ prospective inter gender match @ Lockdown. The TNA bloopers.

Cool moment: 1.) Sting cleans house in the main event and the Impact zone goes crazy.

2.) James storm smashes the beer bottle on Sting’s head to finish the show. Too damn cool.

WCW relived. You know we need it.

The show ended with Sting’s music hitting the Impact zone and Mike Tenay drawing a vague conclusion that Sting will be here next week. The fact that Sting will return is reason enough to watch Impact next week. The fact that Impact will be live are two .Some would say that it’s childish to ‘look forward’ to 50 year old Sting’s return and would equate it with one of Hulk Hogan’s sudden incredible comebacks. I would say that’s why we love pro wrestling. Even though it may not be as exciting as before, it’s ample reason to watch the show.

TNA managed to push the twin main events for Lockdown .Kurt angle taking part in a ‘Public workout session’ was funny even though it probably wasn’t meant to be. His systematic destruction of the 4 fighters: a boxer, the MMA guy and 2 other dudes whose niche I didn’t catch was short and helped sell Angle as heel. It was comical considering Joe’s workout promo with clips thrown in from MMA fighter Marcus Davis and that ‘Real Fight’ magazine’s editor hyping the Joe/Angle Lockdown bout. It was cool to see Angle selling the bout by talking on the mic after the workout and then displaying the blood on his fist to the camera.

The Lethal Lockdown received its boost with a major part of the show trying to fill in the blanks within the team dynamic of Team Cage and Team Tomko. The sit down interview by Mike Tenay with both Christian and Rhino sold Christian’s unapologetic nature of his actions toward Rhino in the past but furthered his face status by him asking Rhino to join his team. Rhino cut a pretty decent promo even though the melodramatic stuff about his daughter was unnecessary. His refusal of Cage’s offer set the tone for a pretty routine match with Tomko.

Both the guys took a lot of body shots. The finish with Tomko pinning Rhino after AJ’s distraction behind the ref set up an interesting main event with Team 3D and AJ with Tomko bashing Rhino and Christian who makes a brief save for Rhino from the AJ-Tomko beatdown before Team 3D appears; and gives Rhino the hand shake which he accepted.

Question: How come Kevin Nash has recovered completely since the beatdown he received last week from Team 3D? Weren’t his knees taken out? How come he ran in and made the save on Cage and Rhino from Team Tomko? And why is he STILL in the Lethal Lockdown match instead of KAZ? Or someone else.

The main event between Team 3D and Cage /Rhino was ordinary but not boring; Rhino worked most of the match for his team much like D-Von for his. Rhino did the punches, clotheslines, Irishwhips and a spine buster. Christian was also into his routine move set. Team 3D sold the match going for a Doomsday Device once and then pushing heel status with D-Von banging into Ray’s !!Area!!.Devine at ringside was funny .The finish with Rhino landing a Gore,Gore,Gore on Ray but having his pinfall prevented by Tomko gave him and Cage a DQ win. Team Tomko beats down team Cage and Curry Man[!] and Sharkboy (in a new costume) and the MCMG before Sting’s music hits.

The rest of the show was a toss up between lots of promo videos and a couple of good matches. Kip and B.G James’ Rough Cut continued and it appeared real.B.G was damn honest when he delivered a smashing line saying ‘all we did is this and said suck it while phenomenal AJ is doing back flips ’; Kip’s promo also appeared real. This rough cut feature is a definite winner in bringing interest to a storyline feud between Kip and B.G. Let’s hope the match delivers as well .Another promo with Raisha Saeed pushing Kong’s intentions and calling ODB and Kim ‘swines’ was awesome!

The ODB/Kim match against Love and Sky was fast paced and pretty good.TNA didn’t overplay the Kim –ODB dissension and thus the match looked good. Love and Sky landed a couple of spots. Kim used the chops, take down routine laced with an arm drag or two and a cross body .ODB landed a few of her moves and gimmicks spanking velvet Sky and landing an arm drag. She finishes the match with a running powerslam on Sky and gets the pin.

Petey Williams and Steiner against KAZ and Eric Young worked well .Petey and KAZ starting the match were good. Steiner in the ring was very short, just a couple of his spots and the match ending fallaway slam from the turn buckle on EY getting the pin for his team. That of course was the result of a distraction caused by Black Reign on the mic and the backwards killer RELLIK.

The most disappointing parts of the show came together in the beginning of the show. Apart from Jim Cornette’s mic work there was nothing exceptional about the ‘Welcome Back Sharmell Ceremony’. I can understand trying to book a match between Booker/Sharmell against Roode/Banks on Impact but to have that match on PPV at Lockdown is stupid. It would have made sense to finish the feud in the 6 sides of steel 1 on 1 but TNA writing wants to make this as much about Sharmell as it is about Booker and Roode. That sucked.

Booker –T’s match against AJ with Karen Angle as special guest was surprisingly ordinary. Most of the match was sold by Booker using chops, kicks and clotheslines and not his other moves. AJ was very ordinary and Don West’s voice blowing up on the Pele did not sell the move or the match. Karen not being there in the end for a roll up victory by Booker reminded me of the ever present love triangle which won’t go away like the stupid TNA over- bookers.

In spite of all this the show worked because TNA did a good job of psyching the main events. The fact that they will be LIVE reminds many of us of those days when we used to wait for NITRO.

The Impactor mini:

Damn Good: The Lethal Lockdown build and the time given to the angle, it shows some thinking on the part of Creative. Creative uses the Rough Cut to push B.G vs. Kip instead of in ring stuff.

Good: Kurt Angle’s public workout, The Joe –Angle match hype video by the MMA guys, the Steiner/Petey match against KAZ & EY. The women’s tag team match.

Super Stupid: TNA books Booker and Sharmell against Banks and Roode instead of a 1on 1 between Booker and Roode at Lockdown. AJ continues the ‘I love Karen’ storyline. Nash @ Lethal Lockdown.

Funny: Raisha Saeed calls ODB and Kim ‘swines’. Jay Lethal asks for a kids menu on his date. Sonjay shows up and says ‘he works there when not wrestling’ and Jay Lethal wants a discount…..LMAO.

Cool moment: Mike Tenay plugs the LIVE show next week and the lights out with Sting’s music…..Oh yeah!

Academy award speech with teary eyes: I would like to thank and in no particular order (oh my God! said a few times)Punkfan77,Hardyfan77,Alohaboyk91,Cthoughts, Damienjudex,John,Chris,Lance Danger, Beavus, Louis, Billy, Krismystery, JohnnyJac, Nate dogg, Hacksaw, James, Montamn2, Fudge and everyone else who reads the blog but whose names I do not know.

Moving on, I would like to plug a few things.Firstly; this looks to be a good month for wrestling. Wrestlemania‘s coming up.TNA will present Lockdown and ROH’s Rising Above is on throughout the month.

Those who can watch Rising Above should do so. The PPV was simply exceptional.I surely enjoyed watching Austin Aries v Nigel McGuiness in a match I will remember for years to come. I didn’t think Nigel would wrestle this way on PPV especially after his other exceptional match vs. Brian Danielson at Driven.ROH have delivered the goods every single PPV-Respect is Earned,Driven,Man Up (!!!!) and now Rising Above.10 bucks is a small price to pay for something that is this brilliant.

TNA Lockdown is shaping up to be a good card as well. Last year every match except the lethal lockdown sucked. This time TNA have decided to let Joe and Angle main event. With Sting’s expected return and Joe’s crowning as champ expected, the PPV is a definite buy. Even if you can’t pay for it it’s worth a watch. It isn’t a bad idea if you can buy the tickets and watch the show live in Massachusetts.

This week’s show was enjoyable and that was because TNA did a good job of hyping the main events for Lockdown. The lethal lockdown teams captained by Christian and Tomko is a good move. It’s an effective way to push Tomko but at the same time AJ takes a backseat but wait he’s already in the backseat because he’s married to Karen angle and he’s a prince. Tomko and Christian’s opening verbal confrontation sold Christian’s damn good mic work. The post promo brawl with AJ interfering and Kevin Nash making the save was routine. It was good to see Nash RUNNING to make the save.

The angle continued with the closing main event match with Nash and Cage taking on AJ and Tomko. The pre match ringside AJ-Christian brawl set up the first few minutes of the match. Amazing counter of AJ’s hurricanrana into a powerbomb by Christian. Rest of the match was worked by Christian & AJ and Tomko tagging in each other. Tomko lands a few power moves. Christian does the chops, punches, clotheslines, the tornado DDT and the frog splash. Nash gets the hot tag and does the side slam. He powerbombs AJ. The match ends with a disqualification victory to Nash and Cage due to Team 3d’s interference.

Team 3d’s beatdown and Nash’s knees being taken out are ways to sell that Nash won’t be wrestling at Lockdown. Whether TNA actually sticks to that or puts him back at Lockdown are to be seen.

Somewhere in the match was a needless appearance from Kurt Angle. He gets ejected so that’s that. His match with Kaz earlier on the show was superb.TNA booked this match to be short which sucks because these 2 guys were putting on a show. Kaz worked the match without his usual athleticism going instead for a punch and kick approach. Different kick variations and lot’s of Irish whips from both these guys. Angle kicked out from the Wave of the Future and the Flux Capacitor executed by Kaz from the top turn buckle. The finish with Angle countering Kaz’s second wave attempt into the ankle lock was good to see.

The ‘special’ announcement by Karen angle came after the match. She wants a fake separation from her real husband to pursue a real fake relationship with her fake husband. Whatever.

The Petey Williams match against Curry Man was good though it was short. Few body bending moves compared to the punch, kick and clothesline routine used. The guys used a neckbreaker, sling shots and the tilt a whirl head scissors. The finish of a Rhaka khan distraction was a break-in suplex by Curry Man to get the pin. The post match part was Steiner coming out to cuff Petey and bag his head. Have to see where that’s going. Curry man did the dance!

The Guns get buried by Black Reign and the backwards killer RELLIK. Even though the Guns landed a few spots and RELLIK looked good. Having these two damn good wrestlers with so much heat lose clean to reign and RELLIK is a bunch of BS. The whole point of the match it seemed was to have Eric Young make an appearance as Super Eric and clean the ring. Again, whatever.

The LAX against Rock and Rave with Christy looked good .Most of the match was worked by LAX and Jimmy Rave yet the cover for the win went to Christy Hemme. Hernandez landed a few neat spots. Homicide also looked good. Rave made his presence felt but Hoyt was forgettable. The other match with ladies involved was the one on one between Gail Kim and Velvet Sky. Just a run of the mill match. Kim’s monkey flip and neckbreaker moves stood out. Love and Sky beat down Kim before Kong enters. Kim kept strong by countering Kong with a running spear was good. Raisha Saeed then cheap shot’s Kim allowing Kong to try and bomb her before the save from ODB.

Here’s the Impactor mini:

Awesome: The Samoa Joe in ring promo – it appeared real and Joe’s mic work was damn good. The stuff he said was brilliant.

Good: Karen angle goes away (hopefully) thus bringing some seriousness to the title match at Lockdown. The Kurt angle/Kaz match. The Curry Man/Petey Williams match. Rough cut with Kip and BG.

Super stupid: The MCMG lose to Reign and the backwards killer RELLIK just to further super Eric. Roxxi hates make up.

Funny: Kurt Angle to Karen angle-“you’ll take the kids right”; “do I have to sign any papers”; “we should separate……that’s brilliant!”

Cool moment: Team 3d beats that survivor guy; wish the NASCAR dudes had also gotten a beating.