WrestlingNerd Presents: TNA Lockdown 2012 Review

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at TNA Lockdown 2012. How did the show do? Let's find out and start the review. 

Match #1: Team Garett vs Team Eric Bischoff; Lethal Lockdown 

We are opening up the PPV with the Lethal Lockdown match. It's very strange to see THIS match start the PPV. It's normally custom for this to be one of the final matches, but here we are opening up the damn thing. I guess TNA realized that they sooner they get the Garett Bischoff match out of the way, the sooner the real show can begin. You know, I've been looking at Garett's look for a while and I can't help but think something's missing. I think I figured out what will work for Garett. Just slap one of these on him and I think Garett will start clicking with the audience…..

Garett tries to do a pep talk with his team. He persuades his teammates to start off the LL match, but the rest of his team doesn't agree with the idea. So, the match starts off with Garett and Gunner. Well, I guess I know what I'm doing for the first three minutes. Excuse me….

It appears TNA hasn't learned anything from the Garett/Gunner PPV match all those months ago. Tazz said that Gunner is, "A lot of bad attitude in that purple". You see, Gunner was wearing purple tights, so he has bad attitude. That's it. I QUIT!!! So, I guess we can call him Mr. Purple Garbage Man? Okay, so I should at least explain the rules/concept of LL. If you're not interested in this, please move on to the next paragraph. A LL match is a combination of a cage match and war games. Personally, the war games concept wasn't a bad idea. I would like to see this concept get used more often since you really don't see it in WWE.  The only time you see WWE attempt the war games concept is when you see an Elimination Chamber match. The match starts off with two opponents, but no pinfalls/submissions are allowed to take place until everyone involved with the match is in the ring. The modern day LL matches feature teams of five, so we would have to wait until all ten men are in the match. The match starts off with two opponents for 3-5 minutes (three minutes was the case for tonight's match). After the timer runs out, another opponent comes in every two minutes. There's usually a match that determines who gets the numbers advantage. Based on the turn order, Eric's team would always have the advantage. Once everyone is in the match, the top half of the cage lowers and the weapons that are on top are now fair game, thus NOW you can finally attempt to win the match. 

So, the order of tonight's match went Gunner, Garett, Bully Ray, Austin Aries, Kaz, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Mr. Anderson, Eric Bischoff, and RVD. Once the cage lowers, the weapons are now available. You get the usually stuff like trash cans, chairs, kendo stick, a guitar, a……wait, what? A Guitar? So, because we are in Nashville, here we go throwing a guitar like it's a standard procedure? To be honest, I actually found this spot amusing. The audience didn't seem interested in this match. In fact, the audience was very silent for most of the night. What happened? Did TNA pay people to watch their PPV? This would be a growing issue for the rest of the night. I've said many times that a live audience can make the show come alive. Well, that same live audience can also make people fall asleep during a show. Because the audience didn't seem to care, it really felt like a chore watching this match. I've seen much better LL matches and I think this was one of the weaker ones. Most LL matches have that "OMG" moment, but it was pretty basic. Not even a hardcore style wrestling match can make Garett look cool. You have to suck pretty hard in order to make that happen. There was a point when Eric was whipping his boy with a kendo stick. I guess he was whipping his ass, am I right? 

The finish comes when Eric is the last one standing and decides to go after his son. Garett gets the guitar and smashes it over Eric's head. Garett makes the cover and wins the match for his team. With Garett's victory, Eric is out of TNA and can no longer use the Bischoff name. I guess we will be seeing Eric attempt Mr. America 2.0 one of these days. Mike Tenay talks about how Garett earned respect tonight. Yeah, he earned respect by beating up a guy who doesn't know a wrist lock from a wrist band while using Elvis' choice of weapon. You think TNA would FINALLY learn that nobody cares about Garett, but they still don't get the idea. You give him all this screen time and victories and it's not amounting to anything. I'm sorry, but how do you expect me to care about a guy who has the personality of a sponge? Actually, I take that back…..Even a sponge is more interesting than Garett. He may have taken a lot of punishment, but so can John Cena. I think I made my point…..sadly. 

Winner via pinfall: Team Uninspiring 

Match #2: Samoa Joe and Magnus vs Motor City Machine Guns; TNA Tag Team Titles

After the LL match, every match would be a cage match for the rest of the night. I'm mainly saying that to people who don't know about tonight's gimmick. Once again, the audience took away the excitement that this match brought. To be fair, TNA put this match together way too fast. They should've waited a month or two before making the MCMG challenge for the belts. Instead, they show up a couple weeks ago and immediately get a title shot? It's rushed booking. As for the match, it wasn't too bad, but the lack of audience participation can make you uninterested. The finish comes when the champs hit their combo finisher/Samoan Tower on Alex Shelley. The finish shows that the MCMG are going to have to do a lot more to defeat the champs. This rivalry is far from over….Even if most people have no idea if Joe and Magnus are playing babyfaces or the heels. Seriously, I have no idea as well. This was still not a bad match, but I recommend you get a couple of rowdy friends and create the audience noise yourself. In fact, do that for the rest of the night and it might help. YEAH!!! THERE WE GO!!! WOOOO!!! LET'S GO!!! YAHOOOOOOO!!!!

Winner via pinfall and still Tag Team Champs: Samoa Joe and Magnus

Match #3: Devon vs Robbie E; TV Championship

So, TNA has learned nothing from a month ago. Hardly any stock was brought into the title change a month ago. So, they do a rematch and there's no build-up once again? If you're not gonna put any investment into the TV title, you might as well blow it up. In fact, I'll do it for you…..

The match was incredibly dull. In fact, I think it was worse than the match they had at Victory Road. How do you manage to pull that off? I'm sorry I'm being so negative, but just say it to yourself. Devon vs Robbie E……For the TV title……on PPV. PAY-PER-VIEW!!! Sadly, the audience was a little more awake for this match. I guess they thought Zack Ryder showed up to the event. The finish comes when Devon hits the Spinebuster for the quick victory. It was probably the shortest match of the night. At least they kept it short and simple. After the match, Robbie T attacks Devon. The bad guys stand tall at the end. I guess this means there will be a rematch, so I guess we will see these two fight at the next PPV. I mean, who would think putting the TV title on TV would work? Putting the TV title on actual television is just a stupid idea, am I right? ………That's not funny. 

Winner via pinfall and still TV Champion: Devon

For some reason, Matt Morgan talks about beating up a red-headed bitch tonight….

Match #4: Gail Kim vs Velvet Sky; KO Championship

I'm not sure why Velvet looks like Chun-Li from Street Fighter. I guess she figured dressing up like someone who actually knows how to fight would help her out? Well, you can look like Chun-Li, but you can't fight like her. Tazz is extra upset since the pigeons have not been let loose for three weeks. Oh, I'm sure he's letting a "pigeon" loose while doing commentary……stay away from that table. STAY AWAY!!! I gotta admit, the top rope Powerbomb was very impressive. The finish comes when Gail gets a rollup victory, but not before grabbing a fistful of tights. If you look, it seemed she grabbed more of her ass than the tights. I bet there are many men who would like to trade off with Gail at the present time. I'll be fair here and say in terms of the match itself, it wasn't that bad. The audience did seem to wake up, but that's probably because some of the men were unzipping their pants when they saw Velvet. Strong warning to everyone out there. Don't shake the hands of the males in tonight's audience. 

Winner via pinfall and still KO Champ: Gail Kim

Ric Flair comes out to address a personal matter. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Flair's presence was a last-minute decision. The audience was bored with the PPV, so they figure that throwing Flair out there would wake the audience up. Well, it did work……to an extent. Flair talks about being pissed off that Hulk Hogan's GM decision has caused EB to no longer work for TNA. Hogan comes out and says this place will blow up if Flair and Hogan did get in the ring. Flair seems ready to go and rips off the jacket, but Hogan punches Flair in the face. While Hogan is leaving, Flair is back up and goes bat s*** insane. Flair's animation has probably been the highlight of the PPV thus far. I still love the elbow drops to the jacket. Take that, Little Jimmy. After I had my laugh, I realized that we were ONCE AGAIN doing another Hogan program. I'm calling it right now, Hogan vs Flair at either Slammiversary or Bound for Glory. I really hope I'm wrong. I'll be EXTRA sad if I'm right. 

Match #5: Crimson vs Matt Morgan

For a couple of big guys, this match wasn't too bad. Sure, it wasn't anything amazing, but it was fair to watch. Considering how LD has gone so far, I will honestly take anything I can get. The finish comes when the two guys are fighting on top of the rope. Morgan ends up falling and gets his leg trapped on the ropes. Crimson uses this opportunity to win the match. A pretty cheap finish for this match, but this type of finish makes the rivalry continue. It tells the story that Crimson simply got lucky tonight. There was also a moment where Morgan could've walked out of the cage door, but he was more focused on revenge. This was ultimately Morgan's downfall. This rivalry will most likely continue while the worst undefeated streak continues. 

Winner: Crimson

Match #6: Kurt Angle vs Jeff Hardy

It's that time where Kurt says something outside the wrestling ring, where you really question if the man is on cocaine……

I wonder if Hardy's facepaint ideas come about when he's in one of his influences? Just slap the Chappelle Show clip and there you go. Kurt said in an interview that him and Hardy are capable of delivering a match better than Undertaker/Triple H at WM 28. Are you insane? Kurt's main enemy at the end of the day is his mouth. Just shut up and do what you're best at. And this is coming from someone who's a big Angle fan. Well, it turns out that while this was a good match, it was nowhere near the level of Taker/Trips. Of course it wasn't. That match had a lot of emotion in it, while this is a match that's about Kurt's son having a man-crush on Hardy. Yeah, it doesn't really work. Like I said, this was a good match. In fact, it was the best match of the night. Gotta give Angle some credit since the man did come in with an injury, but take away his damn Twitter. I liked the Angle Slam from top of the cage. WHEEEEE!!! Oh, there's that chant. It may not be the Impact Zone, but it's a TNA exclusive….

DING!!!

Tazz just said it……I'm counting it….

DING!!!

Kurt and Hardy are pulling out all the stops. Angles Slam, Swanton Bomb, Ankle Lock, and we're still going. The finish comes when Hardy hits Swanton from top of the cage. Hardy wins the match. This was a great match. The crowd was really invested in this match. Well, better late than never. 

Winner via pinfall: Jeff Hardy

Match #7: ODB and Eric Young vs Sarita and Rosita; KO Tag Titles

Eric is doing all the comedy antics like before. If you've seen any of Eric's comedy matches, it's pretty much the same thing. Sarita and Rosita kept flirting with EY. Maybe it's the beard….

Umm…..YES? Anyway, ODB is pretty much tackling this match on her own. This has been pretty common with ODB and EY as of late. ODB defeats the ladies and makes out with EY after the match. How much longer is this ODB/EY thing gonna last?

Winner via pinfall and still KO Tag Champs: ODB and Eric Young

Match #8: Robert Roode vs James Storm; TNA World Championship

The match started off as a brawl on the outside of the ring. This was basically Bobby's plan since he would bust Storm wide open. Storm already has the crimson mask as the match hasn't officially started yet. Isn't that spot a little early? To be fair, it does tell the story that these two simply don't like each, but you can tell they went a little overboard with the razor blade tonight. Despite going so overboard that it would force Dracula to attend a TNA event, it told a very good story. Two people who were best friends, but now can't stand each other. Bobby would get busted open as well, but it was towards the end of the match. This really felt more like a fight than a wrestling match. I like the Codebreaker off the top rope. The finish comes when James hits the Super Kick on the ref, but by accident. This would allow for the cage door to open. Roode would tell the backup ref to hand him a beer bottle. Roode would use the bottle as a weapon and smash it over Storm's skull. The backup ref is now in the match and makes the count, but only a two count. Storm gets back up and hits the Super Kick on Bobby, but is unable to make the cover. Both guys get back up and Storm hits another Super Kick on Bobby. Now, when the backup ref got in the match, the cage door was still open. When James hit the Super Kick on Bobby, Bobby would fly so far back that he fell out of the ring. I would rather have Storm get unlucky than have him KO himself. I still can't get over that. Because of the stipulations of the match, Bobby retains since he escaped the cage. Hey, Storm…..sorry about your damn luck!!!

Winner and still TNA World Champion: Robert Roode

Now, I can see a lot of people being upset. I realize the story was that Storm needed to win the match, but Roode is the hottest thing going around in TNA. It would be pretty foolish to end the selfish generation just for the sake of doing the internet payoff. Besides, Storm doesn't look weak after this lose. It makes it look like Storm got unlucky at the end of the day. Storm still looks like the top contender after tonight, while Bobby continues to have that horseshoe up his ass. I think they can wait for Storm to get the title at the end. Some people might be pissed off about Storm not getting the title, but I would rather have a better story being told any day any day of the week.  

Overall Impression:

I came out of this PPV the same way I came out of VR. There were elements of the PPV that were entertaining and enjoyable, but there was a lot of dead moments or moments that may make you lose interest. I thought the main event and Angle/Hardy were good matches. I also liked the Flair promo. Yeah, I know it shows the potential of another Hogan/Flair deal and the promo can be looked at as unnecessary, but at least it was funny. Even with some positive moments, there was moments where I felt very bored. This is a case where the first half of this PPV absolutely dragged. It really felt like a chore having to watch the first half. In fact, I had to watch some of these matches a second time just because I busted out the Nintendo DS a few times during the PPV. One of the things that doesn't help the show was the audience. Like I said, I know it's difficult to get an audience like the Miami WM audience, but what in the world was this? This didn't seem like an audience that wanted to see this show…..At least until the Angle/Hardy match. Once that match began, the audience woke up and it really felt like a PPV, but why did it take so long? It wasn't like there was awful match after awful match prior to Angle/Hardy. Hell, I thought the MCMG match was pretty interesting, and the KOs managed to deliver a passable match. Like I said earlier and many other times in the past, the audience can almost make or break a show. This was the case where the show wasn't too bad, but the audience just didn't seem interested for most of the evening. If I have to give this PPV a grade on a scale of 1-10, I have to give TNA Lockdown a 5 out of 10. For those new to my grading system, I don't do decimal point scoring since people need to make up their minds when it comes to decimal points. 1-3 is considered bad, 4-6 is around the average territory, 7-9 is a good/great show, and the rare perfect score is a…..well, it's perfect. A 5 out of 10 is what I would consider an average show, but it was disappointing at the same time. LD is usually TNA's second best PPV out of the year, but there was a lot of things that really hurt this PPV. I know I've talked about the audience too much in this review, but it was really one of those things that can ruin tonight's experience. Was this even a wrestling audience? It felt more like people were paying to watch a political debate, and that sort of thing does NOT work on a wrestling show. Without a doubt, the audience was the biggest issue for tonight's LD. I think if you had a more lively audience, this show can easily jump up a couple notches on the scoreboard. This PPV will most likely NOT be very memorable at the end of the day. A couple matches stand out, but I don't think it makes the biggest impression. Plus, for a show that features nothing but cage matches, only half the matches felt like a cage match. The KO match was easily something that didn't bother using the cage, and either were the two tag team title matches. Tonight's show didn't take full advantage of the gimmick, and that can hurt the show as well. That's gonna do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show. See you next time. 

WrestlingNerd's Official Score of TNA Lockdown 2012: 5 out of 10 (average)