(Source: Chris “The Authority” Schultz of TNAWrestling.com)
Tonight’s pay per view might have been one of the most brutal nights in professional wrestling history. Each match took place within the confines of a steel cage. It truly was not for the weak at heart and viewer discretion was much needed. The 6 sides of steel were merciless and unforgiving on each competitor who dared to enter tonight. Blood was spilled and injuries were sustained, but once again, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling came through and gave the fans a night they can talk about for years to come.
Lance Hoyt & Chris Candido vs. Apolo and Sonny Siaki
This tag team match started off with the veteran Candido and Siaki locking up. After the two of them went back and forth, they went to tag their respective big men in the corner. The two giants stood toe to toe in the middle of the ring and stared each other down. The ring shook as the two of them exchanged blows. Cameras then shifted to an injured Candido who was being carried off to the back in what appeared to be a leg injury. It was confirmed later on that Candido broke his ankle in the beginning of the match.
With Candido gone, Lance Hoyt was all on his own. Siaki hit a devastating over the head suplex off the top rope on Hoyt that got the fans to their feet. Although Hoyt did the best he could, the numbers game was too much for him and Siaki got the pin for the eventual victory. Upon seeing this, The Naturals came to the ring and had some choice words for Hoyt having lost the match. Chase Stevens and Andy Douglas then became enraged and began to beat down on a helpless Hoyt. Lance did his best to fight back, but he was outnumbered again. They then finished him off with the painful Natural Disaster.
Winner: Apolo and Sonny Siaki
Cameras then shifted to the back where the Director of Authority, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes stood by with his assistants Traci and Trinity standing by him. He then pulled the first two entrants out of his hat for the Lethal Lockdown match at the end of the evening. First he pulled the champ, Jeff Jarrett followed by Sean Waltman.
Dustin Rhodes vs. Team Canada’s Bobby Roode (2 out of 3 Falls Prince of Darkness Death Match)
In what should come as no surprise, Bobby Roode headed to the ring accompanied by fellow Canadians Scott D’Amore and A1. The rules of the match were simple. Take 2 out of 3 falls and you win. If it goes to a 3rd fall, hoods will be placed over each athlete’s head. Roode took the first pin fall as he rolled up Rhodes using the cage for leverage. Dustin quickly tried to even the score and went for his patented bulldog, but Roode countered the move not once, but twice. Bobby Roode then went on to dominate the match midway through the encounter.
It appeared as if Roode was going to take the second fall and go onto victory after hitting Rhodes with the Northern Lariat, but the big Texan was quick to get his foot on the rope during the 3 count. After gaining back the momentum of the match, Rhodes finally hit a bulldog, but this time off the top rope. The referee then placed the hoods over each of their heads, blinding both. D’Amore and A1 tried to help direct Roode while the fans got behind Rhodes to lead him in the right direction.
Not able to see a thing, Roode accidentally took out the referee with a clothesline. Upon seeing this, Scott D’Amore threw a chair over the cage and into the ring. It almost seemed that for once, the 6 sides of steel would keep Scott D’Amore from interfering in another match, but it wasn’t enough to keep out the loudmouthed Canadian who ended up entering the ring with the infamous hockey stick. Not realizing it was his manager, Roode ended up swinging the steel chair at D’Amore, knocking him to the canvas floor. Cassidy Riley then made his way down to ringside where he yelled at Dustin to give him direction. Rhodes then picked up the chair and smashed it over Roode’s head for the 3rd and final pinfall.
Winner: Dustin Rhodes
Back in the locker room area, The Franchise was standing by with X Division Champion, Christopher Daniels who told Douglas that the only X he ever cared about was the one over his shoulder and not Triple X. “Primetime” Elix Skipper interrupted and told Daniels that the whole world is watching and the time was right.
Michael Shane w/Trinity vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Chris Sabin vs. Shocker (Xscape Match)
Four men enter this match and 2 are eliminated. Once it is down to the final two combatants, the first one to escape the cage gets the victory. Four of the best that the X Division had to offer were in this match up. “The Original Playa from the Himalaya” Sonjay Dutt made his return to TNA and got things started off against former X Division Champion, Chris Sabin. Dutt and Shocker decided to team up early on against Michael Shane and then both Sabin and Dutt worked together on him as well.
Michael Shane was in the majority of the match, usually coming up on the short end of the stick. The first to be eliminated was Sonjay Dutt who was eliminated by Mexican Superstar, Shocker. The action then came pouring on in true X Division fashion with one amazing spot after another. From the outside, Trinity began to climb up the steel structure to become involved, but was delayed by Traci. Trinity then kicked Traci off the cage and onto the concrete floor. Once Trinity got to the top, she pulled off the most amazing move and hit a moonsault off the top of the cage and onto the 3 competitors below.
Traci got back to her feet and headed to the ring to get Trinity out of the picture, but was met by Michael Shane who threw her right back out of the ring and onto the floor. With Shane focused on Traci, Sabin grabbed him and put him into the Cradleshock which led to the second elimination of the night. It was now down to Chris Sabin and Shocker. Both tried to climb out of the cage and were fighting on the outside. Sabin hit a wicked right on Shocker’s head which sent him falling to the floor. Knowing that if Shocker hit the floor first, he would lose the victory, Sabin let go of the cage and fell with him. In what came down to a photo finish, Shocker ended up getting the victory by a split second.
Winner: Shocker
Raven vs. “The Charismatic Enigma” Jeff Hardy
Hardy came down the ramp holding two steel chairs in hand and he began swinging them early on in the match. Raven was the first one who ended up through a table in the early going. With momentum on his side, Hardy slammed Raven’s head into the cage and began rubbing his face against the unforgiving steel which cut him wide open. Blood began pouring down the face of Raven. Hardy then placed him on a table and went to the top of the cage where he attempted a Swanton Bomb, but ended up missing Raven who slid off and went crashing through the table.
Raven then fought back using a piece of the broken table to scrape at Hardy’s face. This match might have been the most brutal of the night with Raven wearing a crimson mask throughout. Raven then set up four tables, two double stacked. Both Raven and Hardy went to the top of the cage above the tables desperately trying to knock each other off. Hardy was able to get the edge and knock Raven onto the tables below. Jeff Hardy then stood on the top of the cage and dropped off right on to Raven sending both of them through the four tables below.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
America’s Most Wanted vs. Team Canada (NWA World Tag Team Title Match)
Petey Williams and “Showtime” Eric Young headed to the ring with A1 waving the Maple Leaf flag high above. AMW came to the ring waving Old Glory. So much more than the belts were on the line in this match up including pride in each team’s country. Before Chris Harris could enter the cage, he was hit in the back of the head by A1 with one of the title belts. With Chris Harris knocked out on the outside, both Young and Williams went to work on “Tennessee Cowboy” James Storm. With the numbers game against him, Storm was beaten to a bloody mess.
Time and time again, “Wildcat” Chris Harris tried getting back into the cage to help his partner, but A1 would cut him off and deliver some mean blows. Back inside the ring, Team Canada used the strap and gave Storm some hard licks. Eric Young even went as far as to use the American Flag as a weapon, choking a helpless James Storm. Chris Harris finally fought his way back against A1 and jumped onto the cage from the outside, but Eric Young used his body as a weapon and jumped against the cage sending Harris back to the outside floor.
Storm continued to do his best to fight back, but was completely outnumbered. Chris Harris finally got back into the cage and double clotheslined both Williams and Young. The tables were now turned and AMW took control of the match. After many near falls, A1 constantly got involved by handing his fellow Canadians a hockey stick and powder. Petey was about to use the powder on AMW, but instead it backfired and went all in his face. Not able to see a thing, he grabbed his partner Eric Young, thinking he was one of AMW, and gave him the Canadian Destroyer. With Young out of the way Harris and Storm finished Williams off with the Death Sentence for the victory.
Winner: America’s Most Wanted
“Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels vs. “Primetime” Elix Skipper (X Championship)
Christopher Daniels first PPV title defense would be against his former tag team partner and friend, Elix Skipper. Once tag team champions, these two men were now bitter rivals. Primetime was out to capture the X Title for the first time in his career, while Daniels wanted to show the world, who was responsible for most of Triple X’s success. Each of these athletes knew each other very well and it showed early on in the match. Each combatant countered each other’s move time after time with neither able to take advantage of the match.
Daniels was the first to take control of the match and began to work on Primetime’s shoulder. Skipper began to fight back and what came next was some of the best wrestling of the night with too many high spots to write down, including the BME (Best Moonsault Ever), The Matrix, and others. In one unbelievable moment, Primetime jumped from the top of the cage and came crashing down on Daniel’s neck. With the match seemingly in hand, Primetime went for the Sudden Death, but it was blocked by Daniels and countered with the Angels Wings for the victory. This match could have easily gone either way and fans were fortunate to have witnessed two of TNA’s finest in an exceptional match.
Winner: Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels
Camera’s then shifted to the back where Dusty Rhodes announced that the 3rd participant in the Lethal Lockdown match would be The Outlaw.
Jeff Jarrett, “The Alpha Male” Monty Brown, & The Outlaw vs. Diamond Dallas Page, Sean Waltman, and ? (Lethal Lockdown Match)
Earlier in the night we were notified, that due to a staph infection, Kevin Nash was unable to compete in this match. No one knew who was to take his place if anyone. The match started with “The King of the Mountain” Jeff Jarrett and Sean Waltman lighting the place up, fighting all over the arena and through the crowd using various weapons they both had brought to the ring. After about 3 minutes, the fight finally made its way into the cage where there were trashcans, chairs, cooking utensils, cowbells, crutches, etc.
After 5 minutes had went by, The Outlaw made his way to the ring and Waltman had his hands full. It was 2 on 1 for about another minute and a half until DDP hit the ring with a kendo stick. Page evened things up and swung that kendo stick around like Barry Bonds with a bat. He hit Jarrett and The Outlaw so many times and so hard that the stick broke into more than 3 pieces. The numbers game then shifted back to Jarrett’s team when Monty Brown became involved. With Kevin Nash out, no one in the building knew if anyone would come to the aid of the undermanned DDP and Waltman. Help did come in the form of BG James, who went right after Jarrett.
James laid everyone out, but when it came to The Outlaw, he hesitated and they stared each other down. Waltman then hit The Outlaw from the backside knocking him to the ground. Just then, BG and Sean were laid out with one massive Pounce from Monty Brown. Before Brown could get the pin, DDP breaks up the count and even reversed the Stroke for a Diamond Cutter on the champ. Page and James then whipped Monty off the rope, but ended up getting knocked on their head with another devastating Pounce. Monty Brown was hurt though and bleeding from his head. Realizing he was out of it, Waltman quickly rolled up Brown for the 3 count. The fight continued on until Jarrett, Brown, and The Outlaw left the ring area. The Outlaw pointed right at his former tag team partner BG James, with each of them yelling some choice words at each other.
Winner: Diamond Dallas Page, Sean Waltman, and BG James
AJ Styles vs. Abyss (Number One Contender’s Match for NWA Title)
This match started with a bang when AJ Styles flipped out of the cage, through the door, and onto an arriving Abyss. The fight raged on into the crowd and all over the arena. The bell didn’t even ring until the two men finally got into the cage after 10 minutes of battling outside. Abyss took the early advantage by slamming the cage door against Style’s head on 3 different occasions. The blood started coming down Style’s face soon after. With Styles in the ring, Abyss threw in a chair, his chain, and his trademark weapon, a bag of thumb tacks.
The monster, Abyss wrapped one of the turnbuckles up with the chain. He then launched Styles off the ropes and up in the air over his head on top of the turnbuckle with the chain. AJ’s face got even redder with blood from hitting the chain. Styles was able to get back into the match and countered Abyss’ next move with a DDT onto the chain. A Blackhole Slam by Abyss gave him the edge again and it was time for the tacks to come out. Abyss spilled all the shiny thumb tacks over the canvas floor and spread them out.
After relentlessly trying to slam Styles on the tacks, Abyss ended up on the receiving end of a Styles Clash onto the sharp tacks below. Shockingly enough, Abyss kicked out of the pin with tacks stuck in his chest and stomach. Abyss was able to fight his way to the top of the cage where he hung Styles from the cage by a steel chain around the neck. AJ was able to fight his way out of the chain and powerbombed Abyss off the top rope and onto the thumb tacks again. Styles then got the pin and heads to Hard Justice to take on the NWA Heavyweight Champion, Jeff Jarrett. What a night!
Winner: AJ Styles
Thanks again for reading,
Joe
