TNA: "LOCKDOWN" a pleasant surprise

I have to admit, I went in expecting the worst from TNA's LOCKDOWN PPV last night, so my expectations were low. And while not "the best TNA PPV ever" as i've seen some on the net saying, it certainly was worth the $30 price.

I wasn't suprised to see AJ vs Abyss be the best match on the card; these two have worked it before and did a stellar job once again last night. Abyss taking the Styles Clash on the front side right into the thumbtacks was a moment to remember, as was Abyss slamming the door on Styles' head. Two spectacular stunts that were just the surface of the match.

The Lethal Lottery match surprised me for how well it actualy turned out - I thought it would be a disaster - and for how Waltman ended up carrying most of the major spots instead of DDP. Nice surprise for me, and nice to see the fans can still appreciate Waltman when his work is good. He missed a couple of spots, but he did better than he's done in years last night...I realize this is probably not a surprise coming from Waltman's number one fan, but even my significant other was impressed with his performance last night. I fail to understand why Nash wasn't at ringside as advertised, but then again, "bait and switch" has always been TNA's middle name...

Daniels/Skipper was as good in the cage as it was on paper. I still think neither of these individuals should be in the X divison - they belong in the Heavyweight division, especially as since Styles is already there - but it was a stellar match.

The rest of the card was pleasant filler for me, all executed better than I expected, and all in all a very enjoyable show. A decent if not perfect attempt to restore my little faith in TNA.

Now, onto a few little things that DID bug me...or comments of sorts...

First off, using the word "lock" in the title "LOCKDOWN" should indicate that the cage would be LOCKED for all matches. Instead, everyone and his brother was able to waltz in and open the cage and do pretty much whatever they wanted. Note to TNA: Budget a PADLOCK next time...because the whole concept was completely blown for me when this kept happening.

Secondly, kudos to the quick thinking that no doubt came in the back when Chris Candido suffered one of those freak injuries that only can happen in wrestling. The Naturals attacking Lance Hoyt was an excellent end to that match, and since Hoyt seems to have a huge number of fans in the audience, maybe they can build him up into a decent opponant for the big title in the future; he's certainly got the size for a major contender.

My get well wishes go out to Candido, who has worked his butt off since arriving in TNA a few months ago, only to break his ankle during his match. Word has it he'll need a couple months off, here's wishing him a speedy recovery...he's been great to have around lately...

Once again, most of Team Canada got blown off by their opponants. I wasn't a bit surprised to see Bobby Roode get screwed again, considering that his opponant is TNA's head booker's son, although the match wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it might be; I WAS surprised to see the tag team of Petey Williams and Eric Young lose their match. I was especially not happy to see them use Petey as the fall guy once again - which has been happening in every PPV match he's had since losing the X Title a few months ago. As I said in my predictions for Lockdown on PWInsider.Com yesterday, I don't know who Petey has pissed off, but I think they need to get over it, and get over it NOW.

Ditto Chris Sabin...why they put Shocker, who has a previous committment the night of TNA's next PPV, so he won't even be there, over for the X title shot is beyond me. Dusty, please pull your head out of your rectal cavity. Is it any wonder that TNA has to worry about Vince raiding their long loyal talent when they continually get screwed over? Shocker has just arrived, and in my view, he needs to PROVE himself before getting a major win like that.

Speaking of the Xscape Match, was the whole ending so totally lame, so ridiculous, so...so...so WWE, or what? And what was that CRAZEE move Sonjay pulled about half way through the match? WOW!

The crowd seemed totally dead at times...perhaps they let too many tour people in? Although we could hear one lady quite loudly all night long...

The match I was looking most forward to of the evening, Jeff Hardy vs Raven, kind of fell flat for me...it was a good match, and as expected a lot of crazy stunts..but it still wasn't quite what I expected for these two people. A little tame, even, considering who was involved.

As I said, all in all, not a bad PPV. Now, let's hope TNA can build on the momentum they created last night at the Impact tapings tomorrow evening. I'm NOT, however, holding my breath...

"LOCKDOWN" score - 7.75