Looking to rebound from the disastrous Destination X pay-per-view, TNA made its way to Philadelphia for their all-cage-match spectacular known as Lockdown. With a pretty impressive line-up, it looked as though TNA was poised to succeed, but by the end of the night it was quite evident, they still haven’t learned from their mistakes.
TNA has always had a problem with overbooking and making cluster matches. While the Lockdown card had appeal in the form of a Team 3D vs. Beer Money Inc. encounter, as well as the uniqueness of the Lethal Lockdown match, it still had a three-way tornado tag match, a five-man X title match, a four-way women’s match and triple threat match. Too many multi-person matches, on top of every match taking place in a cage, proved to be too much to overcome.
Lockdown is a cool idea. They can make an all-cage-match pay-per-view work, they just have to book it a certain way and by having so many “cluster” matches, it really dragged down the overall feel.
Probably the most hyped match on the card, and rightfully so, was the TNA Heavyweight Championship match between “The Icon” Sting and “The Hardcore Legend” Mick Foley. While this pulling this match off was certainly a big accomplishment for TNA, the match itself will in no way, shape or form go down as a classic.
In a pre-match interview, Mick Foley or Cactus Jack, made some changes to the match, adding escape over-the-top of the cage only, as a way to win the match. The match started off with Foley already bleeding, from punching himself in his already bandaged head. The two competitors went back and forth, with Sting working on the leg of Foley in an attempt to keep him from climbing the cage.
When Foley got Sting down, he demanded the cage door be opened, contradicting his pre-match changes, which stated that a competitor could not win by simply walking through the door. In a fit of rage, Foley dropkicked a cameraman through the camera hole of the cage and tried to escape that way, only to be stopped by Sting.
Sting locked Foley in the Scorpion Deathlock, as Foley crawled to the camera hole again and demanded that the cameraman give him the barbed wire baseball bat that was taken away from him at the beginning of the match. The frightened cameraman obliged, as Foley fought back to his feet and attempted to hit Sting with the bat.
Sting avoided a few shots, but when he went to climb the cage, Foley used it on his legs to bring him back down. After some more back and forth action, Foley used the bat on Sting’s face, busting him open. The end came when both men climbed the cage and went to the outside, with Foley hitting the floor first and thus capturing the TNA Heavyweight Championship.
TNA Lockdown 2009 PPV Report
Pre-Show Match: Eric Young defeated Danny Bonaduce via pinfall.
After the terrible match, Danny Bonaduce attacked Eric Young, only for Rhino to make the save and hit him with the Gore.
Match Rating – 2/10
Main Show Results
The pay-per-view started with AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels arriving to the building, followed by the Main Event Mafia.
Team 3D were shown walking up the steps in Philly where Rocky was filmed. They talked about how they would be fighting in their favorite city.
A Lockdown package was shown featuring the Smashing Pumpkins song, “Rat in a Cage.”
Match One – TNA X Division Championship X-Scape Match – Suicide (C) vs. Consequences Creed vs. Jay Lethal vs. Kiyoshi vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir
This was a decent opening match for the PPV. Kiyoshi was the first member of the match to be eliminated. Consequences Creed and Jay Lethal both fell victim to Sheik Abdul Bashir and were eliminated consecutively. The match came down to Suicide and Bashir, with both competitors battling back and forth. Kiyoshi came out and tried to get back in the cage, but was stopped by TNA security. As they were holding him back, Suicide reached the top of the cage and dove onto them, landing on the floor to get the win.
Winner Via Escaping the Cage and STILL TNA X Division Champion at 11:00 min – Suicide
Match Rating – 6/10
Lauren spoke to AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels about Jeff Jarrett and Samoa Joe not being with them. Styles explained that he was happy that at least he and Daniels were on the same page. Lauren asked Daniels about coming back to TNA and how that came about. Daniels said it was between he and Jarrett.
Match Two – Queen of the Cage Match – Madison Rayne vs. ODB w/ Cody Deaner vs. Daffney vs. Sojournor Bolt
This match was kinda eh. ODB picked up the win after spitting her alcohol in the face of Sojournor Bolt and hitting her with a powerslam. After the match, Cody Deaner and ODB celebrated in the ring.
Winner Via Pinfall and NEW Queen of the Cage at 6:00 min – ODB
Match Rating – 4/10
Mike Tenay and Don West hyped the rest of the card.
Jeff Jarrett was shown arriving.
Match Three – IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship Three Way Match – The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) (C) vs. LAX (Homicide and Hernandez) vs. Team No Limit (Takahashi and Naito)
These teams worked pretty well together. Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin got tossed around a lot and thrown into the cage. The Motor City Machine Guns were able to recover enough to hit the “Made in Detriot” double team on Naito for the victory.
Winners Via Pinfall and STILL IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions at 12:00 min – The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin)
Match Rating – 6/10
Lauren spoke to Abyss and tried to talk him out of his Chamber of Blood match with Matt Morgan, but Abyss vowed his revenge.
Match Four – Chamber of Blood Match – Matt Morgan vs. Abyss
Matt Morgan threw a steel chair in the ring before the match. Abyss went to use it and got it bicycle kicked into his face, busting him open first. Abyss fought back and dropped Morgan with a chokeslam, but when he attempted the pin, Morgan wasn’t bleeding, therefore it didn’t count. Shards of glass were brought into play. Morgan inadvertently took out referee Andrew Thomas with a high crossbody. Abyss busted Morgan open with the glass and hit him with the Black Hole Slam, but the ref was out. Referee Mark “Slick” Johnson slid in, but only got down for a two count. Abyss picked up the steel chair, as Dr. Stevie came out and pulled it away from him. Abyss begged for the chair back, then went to the outside and grabbed a bag of thumbtacks. As he poured them in the ring, Stevie flipped out, telling him not to use weapons. He slapped Abyss several times, before Morgan him with a low blow and the Hellevator on the tacks for the win.
Winner Via Pinfall at 13:00 min – Matt Morgan
Match Rating – 6/10
Jeremy Borash talked to Jeff Jarrett and asked him about Mick Foley, Scott Steiner and what side he would be on. Jarrett said that everyone needed to worry about themselves, because he was going to do what he’s always done, and that’s the right thing. As Jarrett went to leave, Samoa Joe walked in and warned him not to pull any tricks.
Match Five – TNA Knockouts Championship Match – Awesome Kong w/ Riesha Saeed (C) vs. Angelina Love w/ Velvet Sky vs. Taylor Wilde
Awesome Kong was dominant during the early goings of the match. The momentum shifted when Angelina Love and Velvet Sky tied up Kong’s braids to the steel cage, taking her out of the match. Taylor Wilde hit a crossbody on Love that knocked her silly to the point where she didn’t kick out of the pin and referee, Rudy Charles stopped counting. This led to some shuffling around from Wilde, who got kicked by the tied up Kong, knocking her down and allowing Love to crawl over for the pin.
Winner Via Pinfall and NEW TNA Knockouts Champion at 7:00 min – Angelina Love
Match Rating – 4/10
Lauren caught up with Team 3D, who were drinking with the fans in Philly. They promised victory in their match against Beer Money Inc.
Match Six – IWGP and TNA Tag Team Championship Philadelphia Street Fight – Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon) (C) vs. Beer Money Inc. (James Storm and Robert Roode) (C)
This match went all over ringside and through the crowd. Both teams utilized tables, chairs and even beer. After a back and forth battle, that left all four competitors loopy and Brother Ray busted open, a miscommunication befell Beer Money Inc. With a table in the ring, Robert Roode went to throw Brother Devon into the cage door being held by James Storm. A reversal saw Devon send Roode into Storm, knocking Roode into a 3D through the table to give Brother Ray and Brother Devon the win.
Winners Via Pinfall and STILL IWGP Tag Team Champions and NEW TNA Tag Team Champions at 16:00 min – Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon)
Match Rating – 7/10
Jeremy Borash interviewed the Main Event Mafia. Sharmell was with Booker T and Scott Steiner, while Kevin Nash was with Jenna Morasca. Kurt Angle did the talking and said that the Main Event Mafia would be victorious.
Match Seven – Lethal Lockdown Match – Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Booker T, Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner) vs. Team Jarrett (Jeff Jarrett, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe)
Entrant One – Kurt Angle
Entrant Two – Christopher Daniels
Kurt Angle and Christopher Daniels started the match for their respective teams, going back and forth and doing some mat based wrestling.
Entrant Three – Booker T
Booker T and Angle worked the double team on Daniels, until Team Jarrett was allowed it’s next entrant.
Entrant Four – AJ Styles
Styles came in and went right after Booker and Angle, until it was the Mafia’s turn for another entrant.
Entrant Five – Scott Steiner
Steiner’s entry swung the momentum right back in the Mafia’s favor, as he hit Styles with a Frankensteiner.
Entrant Six – Samoa Joe
Joe was shown talking to someone through a curtain before he came out. Mike Tenay and Don West wondered if he was getting some last minute instructions. Joe got in the ring and went right on the attack, throwing Steiner, Angle and Booker around.
Entrant Seven – Kevin Nash
As Nash went to enter, Joe kicked the steel cage door into him.
Entrant Eight – Jeff Jarrett
At this point, Lethal Lockdown began, with weapons being brought into the mix. Styles and Angle went to the top of the cage and fought a bit up there. Angle took out Styles and slid back down into the ring. With the Mafia on top of the match and standing in a huddle, Styles dove through the top of the cage on top of them, knocking them down. After some near falls, a chair shot from Jarrett intended for Booker connected with Styles, throwing Team Jarrett into a frenzy. Some more near falls followed, leading to Jarrett grabbing a guitar and pointing towards Booker then Styles, before using it on Booker and allowing Styles to get the pin and the win.
Winners Via Pinfall at 23:00 min – Team Jarrett (Jeff Jarrett, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe)
Match Rating – 7/10
After the match, the lights went out and Bobby Lashley appeared on the entranceway. Lashley pointed to the ring as Kurt Angle smiled and the Frontline looked on.
Lauren spoke to Sting, who said that he wasn’t going to let the TNA Heavyweight Championship fall into the wrong hands and said that since they were in Philadelphia, anything would go.
Jeremy Borash interviewed Mick Foley, who was in Cactus Jack mode. Foley made a change to the match, adding that a competitor could escape the cage by going over the top only, as another way to win the TNA Heavyweight Championship.
Mick Foley and Sting packages were shown as both competitors walked through the backstage area and made their entrances.
Jeremy Borash did the in-ring introductions for the main event.
Match Eight – TNA Heavyweight Championship Match – Sting (C) vs. Mick Foley
Winner Via Escaping the Cage and NEW TNA Heavyweight Champion at 16:00 min – Mick Foley
Match Rating – 5/10
Overall PPV Rating – 5/10
