Chris Jericho confronts CM Punk via satellite. Solid No Disqualification Match with WWE Champion CM Punk successfully retaining his title against Mark Henry to kick off the show. These two have great chemistry and made for an enjoyable match, especially with the sound effects with the English crowd. Of course, Punk's title never seemed to be in jeopardy, but they made good use of the environment to fully utilize the No Holds Barred stipulation and make this an awesome opening match. Additionally, I loved CM Punk's unique finish to the bout with the flying elbow chair drop as well. Good exchange between CM Punk and Chris Jericho. It feels like we've been seeing the same thing each week and it feels very repetitive by this point, but at least they keeping switching it up by having Jericho sometimes in person and sometimes degrading Punk over the Titantron. The fact that Jericho was spying on Punk and filmed him walk into a bar seemed a bit silly, but it once again brought the best intensity out of the Straightedge Savior. Throwaway match with United States Champion Santino Marella successfully retaining his title against David Otunga. The action was pretty lackluster, but at least it was brief and was over within a few minutes. As always, I don't feel Santino needs the star spangled prize in order to get over, so why not give it to someone who does like Otunga? Intense interview from Brock Lesnar. Everything about this promo was spot on, from his reasoning for targeting Cena and managing to garner heat by saying he only cares for himself. The UFC name drop and coinciding pictures that went along with it were also a nice touch. I'm glad they used this approach with Lesnar rather than have him on the show each week, which seemed unlikely anyways due to him signing for a minimum of two appearances per month. Lesnar has been great since returning and this interview certainly got me excited for his match with Cena at Extreme Rules more than I already was. Decent promo from Kane. He quickly got to the point and addressed his attack on the Ortons from last week's SmackDown for those Raw viewers that don't watch on Friday nights. While some people may not Kane's mic skills as of late, I believe the Big Red Monster has delivered his lines fairly well and used a good enough amount of emotion. However, I do feel bad for Zack Ryder, who had the take the beating here and hasn't looked credible all year long.
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TNA Lockdown Tonight, TNA presents one of its big three pay-per-views, TNA Lockdown, from the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The concept of the show is similar to WWE Survivor Series, but instead every match is contested inside the Steel Cage. Lockdown will include many emotional, dramatic, and heavily-hyped contests that will have the potential to steal the show. In this article, I will analyze each match on the card with its preview, my predicted victors, and its chances of playing out as a worthy bout. On a side note, it is rare I write articles on TNA Wrestling, so feel free to correct me where I'm wrong and stay open-minded. Will the show be able to surpass the last few excellent TNA pay-per-views of 2011? Will it set the bar for future events for the Nashville-based organization? Will it be a memorable or forgettable event? Get ready for these questions to be answered among many more, so here we go! Roddy Piper invites AJ and Daniel Bryan onto the Piper's Pit. Decent segment featuring World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus and John Laurinaitis to kick off the show. Laurinaitis forcing Sheamus to apologize didn't make all that much sense since these guys have no history with each other whatsoever, but it was fine for what it was while setting up the main event match nicely. Good match between Randy Orton and Mark Henry before the non-finish. These two have great chemistry and were able to use their surroundings to their advantage. I'm glad Henry wasn't defeated here since he'll be challenging for the WWE title next Monday, but he could have least won this bout via count-out when Orton ran off. That being said, I could see Kane attacking Bob Orton backstage a mile away, but it was still an effective way to progress the feud. Quick squash match with Ryback destroying another local athlete. Based upon what we've seen both this week and last week, it's looks like they're building Ryback up as a face, which is fine by me as long as he maintains his intense persona. That clothesline in the first five seconds of the match was impressive that got a good pop from the live crowd. Keeping the contest brief is the best way to establish him as a threat. Fun tag team match with the Usos defeating the team of Heath Slater and Tyson Kidd, but the bout was vastly overshadowed by Jimmy Hart and Mick Foley at ring-side and on commentary. I was looking forward to Hart aligning with Slater since they have similar gimmicks, but Foley and Hart added nothing to the match despite how much I love those two alumni. It's a shame, too, since this win for the Usos could get them one step closer to the WWE Tag Team Championships, but it was easily forgettable. Strong Piper's Pit segment featuring Roddy Piper, AJ, and Daniel Bryan. Piper is always brilliant with WWE appearance he makes, and this time was not different. He certainly brought out the best in Bryan and made valid points that had Bryan react in the aggressive manner we've all been waiting for from him. AJ played her role very well here as the love-struck girl who couldn't make her mind. Having Bryan slap Piper was the perfect way to end, and gives me hope we're finally seeing the much-needed evolution from the Bryan character. Brock Lesnar demolishes John Cena at the end of the show. Intense segment to kick off the show with Brock Lesnar and John Cena engaging in a brutal brawl. I'm not a huge fan of Lesnar aligning with John Laurinaitis right upon his WWE return, as bringing back Paul Heyman as his manager would be much easier and flow better. I was surprised to see Lesnar vs. Cena at Extreme Rules announced so anticlimactically, but it gives the viewers an incentive to look forward to the pay-per-view in a few weeks. The impromptu brawl between the two was very well done and Lesnar's legitimate punch to Cena causing his nose to bleed was a very cool visual. Having everyone come out and attempt to stop the brawl seemed a bit silly, but Cena and Lesnar came of as monsters because of it. Fun match with United States Champion Santino Marella and Brodus Clay defeating Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. I'm glad Clay was able to pull off more than his usual five moves and is finally engaged in an actual angle. Ziggler sold very well here and made the offense from Clay look even more impact-full than it actually was. As much as I like the Funkasaurus going over, it shouldn't have been at the expense of the future WWE Champion Dolph Ziggler. Both Ziggler and Swagger should be elevated higher on the card and not treated as enhancement talent each week. Meaningless match between Cody Rhodes and R-Truth that accomplished absolutely nothing. Why is Big Show determined on embarrassing Rhodes if he already beat him for his Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 28? Show interrupted Cody's match last week as well, so this just felt repetitive. Truth gains nothing since the bout only lasted a bit longer than a minute, while Rhodes continues to get buried for no good reason. Typical squash match with Lord Tensai demolishing Yoshi Tatsu. I see potential in Tensai as a monster heel, but the crowd doesn't seem to be reacting to him whatsoever despite the "Albert" chants referring to his former persona. His chemistry with fellow Japanese wrestler Yoshi Tatsu is there, but it amounted to nothing the end. I think giving Tensai shorter bouts would be a smarter move since these lengthy squash matches seem to drag on for too long. |
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