TNA Lockdown 2/23/06 PPV results

I'm just going to make this short and simple.

Once again TNA did an awesome job with the video intro to the PPV.

Hirooki Goto, Minoru & Black Tiger VS Sonjay Dutt, Alex Shelley & Jay Lethal
Now this was a GREAT match to kick off the PPV. Lots of fast paced back and forth action, and I was rather surprised it seemed like Team USA was actually cheating here. But it was good that they finally gave NJPW a win on PPV which was really a hard earned one here since the odds were heavily against them for the most part.
Match Rating: ***1/2

“Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels VS Senshi (Low Ki)
SENSHI?!? What? Did someone else hold the copyright to Low Ki?!?
Despite the silly name change, these two ex-tag partners put on another solid contest. The match actually seemed rather one-sided with Senshi in control for the most part, but it played up the story of Daniels taking a mystery challenge and just wasn’t expecting Senshi as his opponent. Of course the only flaw in the match easily was the screw job finish when Senshi had his foot on the ropes for the pin.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Arm Wrestling Challenge: Konnan VS “Bullet” Bob Armstrong
Did TNA really need to put this time-waster on PPV as one of the eight advertised matches? And what does it for Konnan to lose an arm-wrestling match to a 66-year old man?!? At least the crowd made the right call with the boring chants during the whipping at the end of it.
Match Rating: CRAP

X-Division 6-Way Escape Match: Elix Skipper VS Petey Williams VS Puma VS Chase Stevens VS Shark Boy VS Chris Sabin
Wow. What did Shark Boy do to get this high on a PPV card? Oh wait a minute, I blink and he got eliminated by the Canadian Destroyer. Couldn’t they have kept him in just a tad longer until after the multi-man pile up? I mean, couldn’t they have used a 5th man to help catch Chase after that insane shooting star off the cage considering everyone else missed? And why is William’s stuck in a match with the B-level X-Division workers anyway?
The match was just ok despite the one big high spot of the match. Nothing special other than that.
Match Rating: **

X-Division Title: Sabu VS Samoa Joe (C)
I guess my expectations for this was just a bit too high since I was a bit disappointed by the overall match. Sure Sabu isn’t 100% (for God knows how many years already), and they continued the monster push of Samoa Joe by hyping his 10month undefeated streak. But I really would have preferred more offense from Sabu since he’s the experienced veteran of the match.
Match Rating: **1/2

Anthem Match: Team 3D (Brother Ray, Brother D-Von & Brother Runt) VS Team Canada (Bobby Roode, A-1 & Eric Young)
Ok I’ll admit they got me with the false finish into thinking Team Canada was going to steal another one, but thankfully they did the right thing with Team-3D coming out on top in the end. The match was really good and I liked the strategy each team employed with having the smallest guy of each team stand up on the top to protect the flag. And it was good to see Team-3D more or less dominate Team Canada for the most part.
Great match overall.
Match Rating: ***

NWA World Heavyweight Title: Abyss VS Christian Cage (C)
Now this one was just so much better than Christian’s title defense against Monty Brown last month! All does big spots and near falls near the end really saved this one from being just another match in a cage. Hats off to Abyss again taking those sick thumbtack bumps, and I actually believe Abyss carried this match and made it what it was, and the he had his faction of fans in the crowd too. Despite the loss, it was also good that they had Abyss lay out Christian and steal the title belt to show he’s still in the world title picture. Of course, it couldn’t have hurt to have someone come out to help Christian.
Match Rating: ****

Lethal Lockdown: Sting, AJ Styles, Rhino & Ron Killings VS Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner, James Storm & Chris Harris
Good lord did this match live up to the hype. Everyone worked hard here, including Steiner, which luckily for him there were enough bodies to cover for him in case he got gassed. None stop action from start to finish, and it was good to see that there wasn’t a single dominant person in the match, even Sting had take a hit or two in this one to get the win.
And what else can I say other than AJ Styles wins the Insane Spot of the Year award for putting James Storm through the table while on top of the cage?!? It easily outshone Chase Stevens’ shooting star off the cage or Abyss’s thumbtack bumps!
They ended a really good PPV on a really good note with Sting’s army taking the win here.
Match Rating: ****

Overall: A really solid PPV overall, and thankfully it wasn’t all due to the steel cage factor. Even with one blemish on the card, this is definitely recommended viewing.