TNA LOCKDOWN PPV REPORT
April 15, 2007
Family Arena in St. Louis, Mo.
By James Caldwell, Torch columnist

- We're live inside the arena facing the hard camera. Pre-sale tickets sold were over 4,000 with the arena configured for 6,000 to 7,000 with camera and TV blocking. Decent walk-up crowd.

Before doors opened, Jeremy Borash hosted the black and blue carpet pre-show. Vince Russo was outside co-ordinating the taping while Dutch Mantell co-ordinated the arrival of a stretch limo. Out came Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarret for a brief promo with Borash.

In the arena, Kevin Nash opened up the pre-pre show asking about the outrageous prices for a large beer in the arena. Nash said Jay Lethal is dead. Long live Black Machismo, he said. Backlund then chased Borash around the arena.

(A) -- VKM beat Serotonin in 5:00. No Bashams in the ring tonight, so Christy Hemme went to Raven for help. Crowd was split in support of each team. Kip with the Cobra Clutch slam for the win. Afterward, Kaz stepped in front of a Raven cane shot on Christy. He took three weak cane shots for good measure.

They teased dissention on Team Angle. Cornette then reversed the decision from Impact's main event to give the heels the numbers advantage after Jarrett's interferwnce. We'd have nearly 100 percent reversed decisions if TNA was consistent on outside interference. At least they put the advantage on the right team.

LIVE PPV

(1) Ultimate Xscape match for the X Division Title. Comedy match to start off. Shark Boy out first from Sabin and Shelley top rope combo. Worth mentioning that Sabin and Shelley are a great tag team with their rapid-fire combos. Dutt out second following Cradle Shck by Sabin. Shelley then took a top rope elbow by Lethal for the third elimination. Lethal and Sabin did a quick battle on the side of the cage before Sabin jumped down to the floor for the win. Crowd really wanted Lethal to win here as the theme of the weekend. Lethal is hot right now. Good opener. (***1/2)

Team Cage teased tension backstage. No one can get along.

(2) Petey vs. Roode. Gimmicky and the focus not on Petey, who was more of a bystander in an issue involving Roode, Brooks, and Young. TNA hasn't done enough to build up Petey as a credible babyface to take a lenghty beatdown and get the crowd into a comeback. Just not enough time to go around on TV for proper build up. Good nearfalls at the end before Roode won with a fisherman suplex. (*3/4)

More tension between Team Angle.

(3) Gail Kim vs. Jackie. Gail tooka pounding in this one, but won with a splash from the top of the cage where she slightly over-shot Jackie. Decent action as a taste of a women's division if they get two hours of TV. (*3/4)

Mr. Backund is on a different planet.

(4) Senshi vs. Austin Starr. Backlund was heavily involved as special ref. Starr hit the 450 splash and scored a nearfall. Backlund and Starr argued over the count, then Senshi rolled up Starr with a bridge for the win. Screwy finish. Starr was entertaining throughout. (**)

Samoa Joe isn't happy about Jeff Jarrett on his team. Light applause live after the promo. So much yelling and screaming so far on the show that the promo didn't get over as well as it could have.

(5) Chris Harris vs. James Storm in a blindfold match. Needless to say, the first part didn't get over with the crowd. Brief and unnecessary Fire Russo chant before a We Want Wrestling chant. After the hood came off twice for Storm, fans became restless with the gimmick. Finish came when ref was down after Harris put him in a Sharpshooter and Storm hit a superkick after taking off his hood. Rough match. Really rough. No fault to the wrestlers. (DUD)

Sting and Angle talked about Jarrett, which led to Angle drawing a conclusion that this job sucks.

(6) Daniels vs. Lynn. Good exchanges in the opening 10 minutes, but crowd is trained to pop for big spots. They booed when Lynn and Daniels teased big corner spots before Lynn slipped off the top and crotched himself. Daniels then made the cover for the win. (**)

Team 3D promo backstage. Ray is sick of hearing his own voice and not being able to beat LAX. They have old tag title belts with them since that makes TNA relevant. Ray says Funk FU. LAX then cut a promo. Konnan with an unnecessary dig at Christy, but a heck of a promo. Intense and believable. Again, didn't get over as well as it could have with so much other yelling and screaming.

(7) LAX vs. Team 3D for the NWA Tag Titles. We knew we were in for a long match when the electricity hummed and hummed and hummed for the entire match. The crowd couldn't get into the match because of the constant humming. The lack of consistency with the electricity wasn't received well either. A few "fire Russo" chants for Russo, who was sitting on the floor in the corner. Devon was "electrified" mid-way through the match. Hernandez should have been electrified 15 times climbing the cage wall. Homicide then being "electrified" consisted of him shaking violently while lights flashed. Then, falling down when trying to take a 3D about summed it up. 3D with the win to capture the belts. Sad thing is they captured the belts and no one cared because of how bogus the gimmick was. I'm going to have nightmares about the humming.

(8) Team Christian vs. Team Angle in Lethal Lockdown. Second best match of the night behind the opening X Division match. Sick spot of the night was Rhino goring Tomko through the cage door. The lock flew over Mike Tenay's head into the front row, missing his forehead by a few inches. Styles then flew off the top of the cage onto a crowd of people after Angle shoved him off the roof. Jarrett gave Abyss a tack-loaded guitar shot, then told Sting to make the cover, much to the chagrin of Angle and Joe. So, it's Christian vs. Sting in May. Gimmicky match, but lots of star power to send the crowd home happy after two worst match of the year contenders. (***1/4)

We suggest these recent related articles...

KELLER’S WWE MSG SPECIAL REPORT 10/3: Lesnar vs. Big Show, Cena vs. Seth in a cage, Jericho vs. Owens in an IC Title match, Dudleys vs. New Day for tag titles

McNEILL's Late Night Deadblog - WWE Night of Champions: Bucklebombs, Light-up Jackets, Poachers, IcoPro, Eddie, more!

KELLER’S WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS PPV REPORT 9/20: Ongoing “virtual time” coverage of event including Sting vs. Seth, Cena vs. Seth, Ryback vs. Owens, mystery partner with Reigns & Ambrose, Divas Title, Tag Title, more