Powell’s TNA Lockdown Hit List: The Hardys vs. The Nemeths in a cage match for the TNA Tag Team Titles, Jason Hotch vs. Mustafa Ali in a cage match for the TNA International Title

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

TNA Lockdown Hits

Jason Hotch vs. Mustafa Ali in a steel cage match for the TNA International Championship: Let’s get the negative out of the way. A piledriver from the top rope. Why? It feels like every pro wrestling company, some more than others, is flirting with disaster by signing off on so many dangerous spots. Fortunately, Ali seemed okay and continued the match despite a terrifying botch that resulted in Hotch dropping him on his head. Normally, I would complain about the cage door being opened and the wrestlers spending so much time fighting outside the ring, but I’m more tolerant when every match on the show is held in a cage. The other big spot was Hotch performing a crossbody block off the cage to put Ali through a table. Ali came up “bleeding” from the mouth, which set the table for him putting up a valiant fight before losing the championship. It was surprising to see Hotch drop the title so quickly after winning it, but hopefully this feud and the storyline with Order 4 imploding will continue to be great. On a side note, Tasha Steelz took a really nice bump, and I’m enjoying the friction between her and Natalie Harp, er, Mila Moore. Seriously, if there’s not a clip of Moore voluntarily riding in the trunk of an SUV to stay close to Ali, then the creative forces will have failed miserably.

Cedric Alexander vs. Leon Slater in a Last Man Standing steel cage match for the X Division Title or Slater’s legacy: The added stipulation that Slater’s legacy would be erased from the TNA history books if he lost this match did nothing for this viewer, and it’s hard to imagine that it added even a single extra pay-per-view buy. That said, the feud between Alexander and Slater was heated enough that the match didn’t feel out of place being held in a cage. The fatigue of having too many cage matches on one show had set in for me by this point in the night, but Alexander and Slater still produced a quality match with a crowd-pleasing finish.

“The System” Eddie Edwards, Bear Bronson, Brian Myers, and Alisha Edwards vs. Ricky Sosa, Fabian Aichner, KC Navarro, and Jada Stone in a Lethal Lockdown match: The live crowd got up for this one, and the wrestlers delivered a really good brawl. It was an odd choice to have Sosa take the loss for his team. In fact, I thought he or Aichner could have been elevated to some extent by winning this match for their team. But with the heels going over, this would have been a good time to showcase Bronson by having him win the match for his team.

AJ Francis vs. Elijah in a steel cage match: The feud had already run its course, so revisiting it felt unnecessary. Even so, this was still a good main card opener. Francis continues to impress. He has the gift of gab, and he doesn’t get enough credit for his ring work. I must admit that I groaned when Elijah first arrived in TNA, but it’s turned out to be a good signing, as the live crowds always react favorably to him. It is odd to watch Elijah borrow so many signature moves from Hall of Famers, but most get big reactions from the fans.

Frankie Kazarian vs. Moose in an “Escape the Cage” rules match: You had to know Kazarian was going to win when Moose could have escaped the cage early in the match yet opted to dish out more punishment. Nevertheless, these guys worked hard and popped the crowd with some impressive spots. The finish made Moose look like a dope for spearing Kazarian, who was right in front of the door, but it’s not the first time we’ve seen a variation of this finish, and it won’t be the last. It’s crazy that this was the first singles match between two of the longest-tenured active TNA wrestlers.

Avery Styles signs with TNA: One of my biggest complaints about TNA in recent years has been that they haven’t been aggressive enough in signing and building younger talent. That’s improved lately with Leon Slater, Jason Hotch, Ricky Sosa, KC Navarro, M by Elegance, Heather by Elegance, and Jada Stone being featured prominently. Adding Avery to this list of young talent is a great get for TNA, especially with his father’s history with the company. I suspect that Avery will be a nice draw for TNA right out of the gate if they play this right.

TNA Lockdown Misses

Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy vs. Nic Nemeth and Ryan Nemeth in a steel cage match for the TNA Tag Team Titles: The Hardys losing the brief main event was a lousy way to end the pay-per-view, particularly on a night when so many babyfaces lost big matches. The post-match angle with Leon Slater exercising “Option C” seven weeks before Bound For Glory didn’t even come close to making up for it (I’m surprised they didn’t save that gimmick for November’s Destination X show, but it’s not like they have a lot of strong options for the BFG main event). It begs the question of why the first person to hold the X Division Championship after Bound For Glory each year doesn’t immediately reserve their spot in the company’s marquee pay-per-view main event by cashing in. Nic is a fine world champion, but seeing him become a double champion did nothing for me. If this weren’t my job, the lack of a TNA World Championship match on this card would have been the deciding factor in not ordering the event. The gimmick of having a show filled with nothing but cage matches might lead to more pay-per-view buys, but the novelty wears off quickly, as there’s only so much the wrestlers can do to make each match feel unique. Much like Option C, I wish the Lockdown format was something from TNA’s past that had remained there.

Allie and Kiera Hogan vs. M by Elegance and Heather by Elegance in a steel cage match for the Knockouts Tag Team Titles: I’m not a fan of wrestlers escaping through cage openings. In this case, Heather is so petite that she slipped right through one of the squares, which was actually pretty impressive. Again, though, I am more tolerant of these things happening on a show filled with cage matches from start to finish. The problem is that this match wasn’t very good, and the fiddling with the handcuffs made this tough to watch. I was really hoping for an all-Elegance Brand finals in the TNA Knockouts TV Title tournament so that Heather and M would be spotlighted and, ideally, it would lead to a shakeup in the faction. On the bright side, Hogan was a nice replacement for the injured Rosemary. It was disappointing that TNA didn’t do more with Hogan during her initial run with the company, but she was completely lost in the shuffle in AEW. The Knockouts Division isn’t as loaded as it was in past years, so hopefully Hogan will get more opportunities this time around.

Xia Brookside vs. Elayna Black in a steel cage match for the Knockouts Title: A minor Miss. The build left a lot to be desired. Black didn’t have an actual turn, as much as she just started acting like a babyface out of nowhere because this event would be held in her native Chicago. The match was laid out well, with Brookside having a long stretch of offense that included busting open Black. It all seemed to be building to Black making a big comeback and winning the championship in front of friends and family. Rather, there was a clunky powder spot that led to Brookside stealing the pin. This wasn’t as bad as when they pulled the rug out from under Mike Santana when he was going for the TNA World Championship in his hometown at Slammiversary last year, but it was still a deflating moment that left me wondering why they didn’t put Black in a match she could win.

Trey Miguel vs. Special Agent Zero: I don’t always include pre-show matches in the Hit List, but this one screams Miss. Why in the world did Special Agent Zero take a clean loss in a pre-show match? It’s okay to have him lose if you put the work in and actually get something out of it, but this match was just thrown together, and it’s hard to imagine Miguel getting a boost from winning a pre-show match.