I'm more interested in Trevor Murdoch's new name than anything else I remember from the Impact spoilers.
Lockdown thoughts -
I was pretty excited about this show a week+ ago, but the final product didn't live up to the hype. The show was mostly pretty boring, although the women's title match was one of the better ones in recent memory, and memorable to both the Kong dive and Love being knocked loopy by the high cross body off the top rope from Wilde. The DOOMSDAY CHAMBER OF BLOOD!!!!!! made its return, and was nearly as unintentionally comedic the second time as it was the first, when Abyss won without making AJ bleed. Here, the comedy was due to Abyss looking fatter than usual, and Tenay acting shocked that Dr. Stevie was Stevie Richards and acting more astonished each time he yelled this loudly. The 3D-Beer Money match was certainly a crowd-pleaser, and the right team went over. Beer Money came off looking great despite losing, and 3D winning made the crowd incredibly happy. It was the right decision given the city and the final angle heading into the show made it clear that they should win - 3D had to get revenge and they did.
Could they please just reveal Taz as Joe's mentor so Joe can get back to not being a complete joke as quickly as possible? And while they're at it, give Christopher Daniels his full name back. "Daniels" sounds horrid and it isn't the kind of one-word name that sounds good - much like that one week where Michael Shane had to be called "Michael" on Impact because of Mike Shane (one of TNA's wrestling cocks) signing with WWE.
Lethal Lockdown itself was pretty boring, except for the spot where AJ jumped off the top of the cage and none of the MEM guys caught him. It wasn't even as visually striking as Suicide's dive off the top of the cage TO THE FLOOR in the opening
ing match, so why do it? And even there, the security guys caught him. AJ just went THUD and it probably won't even make a highlight reel video later because the dive looked bad. God, what a dumb move that was on a number of levels.
The highlight of this whole thing was the post-match with Lashley coming out and for the first time ever, largely due to the excellent theme and video for him, Lashley actually seemed exciting to me. Then he came out and that feeling kinda went away, but not entirely - I can get behind an Angle-Lashley feud. Lashley could certainly have good matches with Angle, and would definitely learn from them. Hopefully he signs a deal with TNA - I'm sure any MMA group he works for won't have any trouble with him working there since they'd no doubt ask that TNA plug a show he's on on their TV, which would likely expose it to many more new possible buyers.
Sting-Foley/Cactus was about what I expected - good and intense at times, and hurt by age and injuries taking their toll on the wrestlers in the match. It was definitely not up to the standard of their WCW work, although Foley looked better here than he had before in TNA and Sting...tried. He's been so awesome for the past six or so months, and it saddens me to see his reign end. However, at least it ended in what was easily the most-hyped match of his time as champion, and more than any other world title reign he's had in TNA, this one did seem significant.
Plus, the match ended with a highlight reel-worthy moment - Foley doing a Flair flop off the halfway point during a climb down the cage and landing right on his face. The "veteran wins the big one once again in Philly" story reminded me a bit of Terry Funk winning the belt at Barely Legal, minus any genuine emotion because Tenay is incapable of showing that on-air, and Foley wasn't even able to do a celebration in the crowd. Instead, he just kind of laid there injured and then they went to the wacky AJ/Gears of War ad that felt incredibly out of place.
Really good Raw this week - one of the best of the year, actually. The opening segment was just plain awesome, even with a few verbal flubs. I'm excited to see Jericho vs. Steamboat at the PPV. Hopefully WWE didn't just spring this on Steamboat so he actually has time to do some cardio, which has been his only weakness since his mini-comeback. Beyond that, the segment built to another really good Jericho vs. Cena match. It's impossible for these two to have anything less than that it would seem, and the major reversal stuff here was awesome - in particular the flying legdrop>Walls one.
After such a good match, the DQ finish sorta seems like a copout, but the run-in allowed for the 900th Edge-Cena PPV match to be built up, which is good, as I'd completely forgotten about it. I liked seeing Ted DiBiase show some backbone, and I'm glad they replayed a bit of his Superstars match with Batista. That was the closest thing he's had to a star-making match, and the replay of both that and the Super Shane match made Superstars seem somewhat significant. Hopefully they keep the momentum for both of those things going, as DiBiase deserves better than being lost in the shuffle on Raw and Superstars (and ECW, and SD) deserve to be made to seem important in some way.
The Santino segment was fantastic. The Marellas are honorable people and fine poets. Sure, it's a bait and switch to have the Khali Kiss Cam segment on PPV, but honestly, the PPV needs more filler, and this should at least be entertaining once. Hopefully, they don't give it too much PPV time though - that's been the death of many WWE PPV comedy segments and Santino deserves good material for a rare PPV appearance.
HHH-Orton was way better than their 'Mania match. The crowd didn't seem to be any more into it, which is a shame, because here, they actually delivered a really good, satisfying match. The addition of weapons made it seem like a more serious affair and added to the drama. Plus, it led to some neat spots - like the DDT from the apron to the steps on the floor tease, which itself led to Orton taking a sick bump on the steps that appeared to knock the wind out of him. The run-ins at the end certainly built up the PPV well, and continued the Batista heel turn tease and allowed Orton to pin HHH. I hope that they actually do turn him, as he's incredibly boring as a face and being a heel would at least be something different for him.
As far as Jeff Hardy goes, I hope he does what he wants. He's had an incredible year, but getting off the road would probably be a good long-term move for him given his drug problems. However, he's in an incredible position right now - he's got more leverage than most regarding negotiations, so I could see him re-signing to a big-money deal - possibly including some time off when it's needed.
Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich - NWA Title - St. Louis 1-25-85
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=90BM65A6
Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich - Hawaii - 10-12-85 - 1 hour match - considered by some to be their best match together.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VODZ0GXE
