Random Wrestlers Who Competed In TNA’s Lethal Lockdown Match

The Lethal Lockdown match was a staple of TNA for over a decade, being hosted mostly at the namesake Lockdown PPV, which ran from 2005 to 2016. With TNA making the call to bring back this multi-man gang warfare steel cage matchup in 2026, it provides us the opportunity to take a look back at the history of the Lethal Lockdown match.

Over the years, many of TNA’s all-time greats such as AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle, Christopher Daniels, and others have been a part of this spectacle, but there are also some recognisable names that you might not have known who competed in this match. Whether it be old veterans, former WWE stars who headed to TNA, or those who would eventually surface in WWE under different names, there are some random wrestlers you might not have expected to have competed in Lethal Lockdown.

7

Damien Sandow

• Sandow wrestled in TNA as Aron Rex.
• He competed in Lethal Lockdown in 2016.
• He was a member of Team EC3.

Damien Sandow is a big example of “what if”, as he had clear upside and potential during his years in WWE that was ultimately wasted. He left WWE in 2016, ending up in TNA for a brief time period.

During his spell within the promotion under the ring name of Aron Rex, Sandow managed to make himself important enough to warrant involvement in the Lethal Lockdown match. He teamed up with EC3, Moose & Gail Kim – three former world champions in TNA to take on the lineup of Bobby Lashley, Drew Galloway, Mike Bennett, and Maria Kanellis.

6

Chris Masters

• Chris Masters wrestled in TNA between 2015 and 2018.
• He competed under the name Chris Mordetzky.
• He was part of Jeff Jarrett’s GFW team inside Lethal Lockdown.

Chris Masters is one of many ex-WWE guys who ended up spending some time in TNA, though his time in the promotion wasn’t all that memorable.

Under the ring name of Chris Mordetzy at the time, Masters wrestled as part of Team GFW alongside Jeff Jarrett, Sonjay Dutt, Eric Young, and Brian Myers at the special Winner Take All event in 2015, battling the Team TNA cohort of Drew Galloway, Bobby Lashley, Bram, Davey Richards, and Eddie Edwards.

5

Mike Knox

• Mike Knox was a failed monster heel in WWE.
• He competed as Knux in TNA.
• He joined the Aces & Eights faction.

Mike Knox is one of many “monster heels” who fell flat in WWE, so he ended up heading over to TNA to try his luck. He was ushered in as one of the many members of the Aces & Eights group, competing alongside his stablemates at Lockdown 2013 inside the Lethal Lockdown matchup.

Competing as “Knux”, Mike Knox was on the losing end of this match, losing to the “Team TNA” line-up of Samoa Joe, James Storm, Magnus, Eric Young, and Sting.

4

Garrett Bischoff

• Garrett Bischoff is the son of Eric Bischoff.
• He competed in two Lethal Lockdown matches.
• He is considered one of TNA’s worst ever wrestlers.

Nepotism hires have been present in professional wrestling, and TNA fans were certainly under the impression that this happened again with Garrett Bischoff, who is the son of Eric Bischoff. He came in as a referee at first, before trying his hand at in-ring work, proving to be a truly terrible worker.

Somehow, he managed to wrangle his way into two different Lethal Lockdown matches throughout his time in TNA – both in 2012 and 2013 as a member of both Team Bischoff and Team Aces & Eights.

3

Nigel McGuinness

• Nigel McGuinness spent a year in TNA.
• He competed as Desmond Wolfe.
• He wrestled at Lockdown 2010 as part of Team Flair.

It is very easy to forget that Nigel McGuinness spent a year of his career in TNA since he was such an integral part of ROH for so many years. At the back end of 2010, McGuinness came into TNA as “Desmond Wolfe”, though he failed to repeat his ROH success with no championships to his name.

He did once compete in TNA’s Lethal Lockdown match however, wrestling alongside some major legends in Jeff Hardy, Jeff Jarrett, Abyss, RVD, Bobby Roode, James Storm, and Sting, though he was on the losing side of the matchup.

2

Sabu

• Sabu is an ECW legend.
• He competed as part of an ECW team at Lockdown.
• Sabu’s tenures in TNA came across multiple years.

Sabu is not someone most fans would associate with TNA, though he did have multiple spells in the promotion, competing in the company 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2019, and 2020, though only sporadically. In fact, across these years, Sabu only wrestled 33 televised times in TNA.

He did find himself inside TNA’s Lethal Lockdown 2010 alongside fellow ECW alumni Tommy Dreamer, Rhino, Raven, and Stevie Richards to take on the Fortune stable, consisting of AJ Styles, James Storm, Kazarian, Matt Morgan and Bobby Roode.

1

Ric Flair

• Flair left retirement to continue wrestling in TNA.
• The aging star competed inside a Lethal Lockdown match.
• Flair’s run in TNA was a disaster.

Despite his perfect retirement match at WrestleMania 24, a money-strapped Flair came out of retirement to wrestle in TNA, much to the chagrin of everyone watching. Flair didn’t just compete in throwaway matches though – he put his body on the line in matchups such as Lethal Lockdown.

At the 2011 Lockdown PPV event, Ric Flair teamed up with Abyss, Bully Ray and Matt Hardy (members of TNA’s Immortal group) to battle Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, James Storm & Robert Roode of Fortune in a losing effort. Given Flair’s age and depleting physical condition, many fans may not have known that he once stepped foot into one of TNA’s most unforgiving matchups.