The Ghost of bps21

Sting has done 2 year long stints in TNA (not counting his token appearances in the early days) and they were both kind of similar in that he spent all of year 1 feuding with Jarrett...and most of year 2 feuding with Abyss. I've had my fill of Sting/Jarrett and Sting/Abyss...and I'm happy with what I got in the Sting/Angle match at BFG... What would be a good run for Sting this time? He's never really had a match with Christian that was worth anything...but their both faces now. You've got upper guys that he can have fresh stuff with like Styles, Rhino, Booker, Tomko...and of course Joe. I'd like to see them push a Sting/Styles match for a ppv while Styes is still heel. But really, I guess I don't care what they do with him month to month so much as I want to see him tap to Joe before he calls it a career. So...any thoughts on what direction they should take Sting in between now and...say...Bound For Glory in October? (In a perfect world I have joe win the title this weekend and hold it all the way through October and main event that show with Sting/Joe...with Sting tapping...but that's a lot to ask with 6 months to go)

Well there's your problem right there. I like Festus. I really hope they don't change his character at all. He's over just like Hornswoggle and Finlay. I think Festus has a lot of potential as a character...I just wish he hadn't used that rope break. ...or that the announcers hadn't continued "telling the story" of him not understanding basic concepts of wrestling when he just used a fairly complex one.

How is that silly when the storyline there getting over is that he doesn't understand anything about wrestling...but has the presence of mind and ring awareness to purposefully break a count by using the rope?

I like Festus. But some aspect of his character has to be changed. They ended it by playing up that he didn't know that tapping out could have ended the match...and a couple of minutes earlier he put his foot on the rope to break up a pin. That was annoying. Quitting is a basic human instinct...wheras getting a foot on the ropes is a rule that would only exist in the wrestling world. I looked to Cole and Coach for answers...and I got none.

I think Anchorman is fantastic. I didn't hate him in Talledega Nights. Other than that I don't think I've watched another one of his comedies. I will echo something said earlier in the thread though...he was great in Stranger than Fiction. *shrugs* I liked him on SNL alot. Especially the dysfuntional family scene with Sarah Michelle Gellar. That always kills me.

The recommended videos on the side are the oft talked about (and I've never seen) Ricky Steamboat and Jay Younglood vs. Sgt. Slaughter and Don Kernodle cage match.

Early 90s Vader vs. current Joe would have been awesome. If I was putting on an all time card...there's a good chance that matchup is on it.

None of the wrestling was memorable on this show. It was a pretty good promo piece for Lockdown...and they were in hard sell mode. Nothing to go out of your way to check out...match wise.

Here's my obligatory preview: This Sunday TNA presents their 4th annual Lockdown pay per view. When they announced the all cage nature of the show in 2005 pretty much everyone scoffed at the concept. 3 Lockdown’s later it seems that the concept has been generally accepted. Lockdown is portrayed as one of the company's "big 3" shows along with Slammiversary and Bound For Glory. This year's edition will take place in Lowell, Massachusetts and TNA is expecting it’s largest crowd for a pay per view event yet. Let's take a quick peak at Lockdown history: Lockdown 2005: Orlando, Florida. Best Match: AJ Styles defeated Abyss in the main event. Worst Match: Jeff Jarrett, Kip James & Monty Brown vs. DDP, Sean Waltman @ BG James Things of note: * Unfortunately this show saw Chris Candido’s final wrestling match. He would be injured in the opening match (teaming with Lance Hoyt against Apollo and Sonny Siaki) and the resulting surgery would lead to his death. * The first ever Xscape match took place with Shocker taking the victory. The Xscape match would become a staple of the Lockdown show. * Overall this was a really decent show. AJ/Abyss delivered a hell of a main event. The undercard matches (Jeff Hardy vs. Raven, AMW vs. Team Canada, Christopher Daniels vs. Elix Skipper and the Xscape match) were fun and all had a different feel despite all being (obviously) in a steel cage. Lockdown 2006: Orlando, Florida Best Match: TIE: Lethal Lockdown and X-Cup preview Worst Match: Konnan vs. Bullet Bob Armstrong (arm wrestling) Things of Note: *The first ever Lethal Lockdown took place with Team Sting defeating Team Jarrett. *Christian Cage successfully defended his NWA title against Abyss *LowKi returned to the company with his new name: Senshi *The first and only meeting of Samoa Joe and Sabu, as Sabu would put Joe over on his way to the WWE *Overall…another good show from the Lockdown format. Most of the matches range from pretty good to good…and you get a ridiculous spot from AJ Styles on top of a ladder…on top of the cage ceiling. Lockdown 2007: St. Louis, Missouri Best Match: Lethal Lockdown Worst Match: Chris Harris vs. James Storm (Blindfold match) Things of Note: * TNA took Lockdown on the road for the first time. * Gail Kim defeated Jackie Moore in a match that would serve (IMO anyway) as the launching pad for the Knockouts division 6 months later. * Team 3D won the NWA Tag Team titles defeating LAX. They made history by becoming the only team to hold the WWE, NWA, ECW and (well…arguably) WCW Tag Team titles. But the match is remembered mostly for the ridiculous “electrified” cage gimmick that did not work. * Not as good as the previous years…but there’s some decent matches here (The Xscape match, Gail Kim vs. Jackie Moore, Senshi vs. Austin Starr, Christopher Daniels vs. Jerry Lynn) and the Lethal Lockdown delivered big again. Lockdown 2008: Lowell, Massachusetts I’ve gone on record as saying it…and I will reiterate it here: This year’s Lockdown has more build than any pay per view in the history of TNA. The top matches on the show all have longer histories than your usual one month build…and the undercard matches have all been featured prominently on TV storylines for that month build instead. Let’s take a look from bottom to top: Cuffed in the Cage: LAX vs. Motor City Machineguns vs. Scott Steiner and Petey Williams vs. The Rock N’ Rave Infection vs. Eric Young and Kaz vs. Black Reign and Rellik Holy tag teams, Batman. The added gimmick here is that whenever someone is pinned or submits they are handcuffed to the cage until there is only 1 guy left. It’s a silly gimmick…but if they manage to play it up right I could see it working a little with teams no longer able to do their combo moves (especially MCMG and LAX) and a guy having to fend for himself. There’s an awful lot of talent in that ring. LAX and the Guns always go out to do something memorable…and I’m calling the annual Scott Steiner top rope frankensteiner spot (it rules). Even though there’s so many people in this match, they have some storyline stuff to play off with Eric Young and the monsters. I’d kind of like to see Kaz standing at the end…but with Steiner cashing in his briefcase for next month’s main event…I think we’ll see a Steiner victory. Mostly I think we’ll be seeing Hernandez and Steiner tossing around Jimmy Rave. Queen of the Cage: Velvet Sky vs. Angelina Love vs. Salinas vs. Traci vs. Christy Hemme vs. Jacqueline vs. Rhaka Khan vs. Roxxi Laveaux It’s a reverse cage match! They start outside the ring and the first two women to get into the cage will then have a singles match to crown the first ever Queen of the Cage. I see Roxxi making the match because I think she’s the most ready to be moved into the bigger knockouts program…but the other person that makes it in could be anyone. Traci and Jacqueline probably deserve it more than the others. Either way…the Knockouts always bust their ass out there and it’s cool that they’re finding a way to get them all onto the show this month. Kip James vs. BG James If you would have told me 6 weeks ago that I wasn’t going to hate the idea of Kip vs. BG going into this show I would have laughed in your face. But…even though I know these guys haven’t had anything resembling a memorable match in years…here I am. TNA did a masterful job building this match on TV. Instead of putting these guys in the ring and having them do the usual builds of attacks and pull aparts…they tried something new. Their Rough Cut segments were short, to the point, interviews cut together with both guys telling their versions of the same story. When it was over…I knew everything about both guys motivations, feelings towards each other, and hopes for the match. It was pretty much the best thing anyone could have come up with for this feud. Now…the hard part. After those Rough Cut promos they actually have some hype to try and deliver on. This SHOULD be a bloody bloody mess of a match. Now…these guys are veterans and the nature of a cage match allows them all kinds of shortcuts…so if they fail to deliver a decent showing it’s all on them. I’ve said before that this is kind of the big chance for these guys to justify their existence in a company that is focused more on fast paced and hard hitting action. Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed vs. Gail Kim and ODB Saeed is Cheerleader Melissa…who I’ve never seen wrestle…but have been told is really good. Everything Kong touches turns to gold. She’s like Joe when he was in the X division, knowing exactly how to bump and sell for her smaller opponents to make it believable and build drama. Kong and Kim have transcended storylines at this point. There doesn’t need to be a buildup for people to get excited about then squaring off. That’s a credit to all the good work they’ve done in the last 6 months. I would expect this to be another good chapter in this long running feud between the top gals in the Knockouts division. Booker T and Sharmell vs. Robert Roode and Payton Banks Having the women involved in the match certainly makes sense storyline wise. Part of me wishes it was just one on one so they could blow off the Roode/Booker feud. Another part of me thinks that Robert Roode is at his best when he’s being a scumbag and attacking women. Booker and Roode’s matches have been decent but not great thus far…and it’s the promos and angles that have been keeping this feud going thus far. It’s billed as a mixed tag match so it might actually benefit them to have Sharmell on the apron to throw in some Roode being a prick story into the action. Xscape Match for the X division title: Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Curry Man vs. Shark Boy vs. Johnny Devine vs. Consequences Creed Lethal hasn’t defended that title in a long time. The rules of the match are that it is an elimination match until they get to the final 2 men…and then you can only win by escaping the cage. The 3 previous Xscape matches have been fun showcases for the X division guys. I could really see anyone in the match winning accept for Devine. Will Sonjay finally turn on Lethal? Will Creed win gold in his first attempt? Will Daniels win another X title…with a different gimmick? Are they serious enough about Shark Boy’s gimmick and push to give it gold? (And if so…don’t you just want a smoking fish skull version of the title?) Will Dutt steal Lethal’s title like he’s trying to steal his woman? Will Lethal overcome the odds again to continue his reign? Fast action and no obvious result. Perfect midcard stuff. Lethal Lockdown: Team Cage (Christian, Sting, Rhino, Kevin Nash and Matt Morgan) vs. Team Tomko (Tomko, AJ Styles, Team 3D and James Storm) The rules of Lethal Lockdown are that 2 men start out and the teams alternate new entrants until the last man is in. Then the top of the cage lower with weapons tied to the top. Both previous Lethal Lockdowns have been good, fun matches…and Styles usually does something crazy. In fact…the last time James Storm was in a Lethal Lockdown he and Styles ended up on top of the cage…with Styles putting Storm through a table…from the ceiling. Literally. This is also Matt Morgan’s in ring debut for TNA. I think they’re going to play up Morgan as a player and we’ll see him use Styles like a rubber ball. The heels should win here. I don’t know how since the faces have more “name” value…but Team Cage doesn’t need to win this. If Morgan comes out of this looking impressive and Team Tomko can pull a victory out…they’ll have accomplished a good amount. Team Cage probably wins though…the good guys usually do win these types of matches. Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe V It’s title vs. career time. There’s a separate thread on the board that previews this match…so I won’t waste the space here. But this match is the big one. Will Joe finally win his first TNA World title? I expect this match to blow away everything on a show that looks good. I read that Angle wants this match to be more like his match with Nagata from Global Impact (more hard hitting and submission based) which the MMA style workouts and buildup would explain. Yeah…that would be tremendous. Anyway they go I think this will deliver and Joe will get his happy ending. Frank Trigg will be providing commentary for the match with Tenay and West…which is great since he was tremendous on the live Impact. ... Feel free to leave predictions in this thread leading up to Sunday Night...and if you're watching the show we can, obviously, discuss it here. If you're on the fence about ordering...I'd say give this one a shot. They've put a lot of time into building it up...and I think Joe/Angle is going to be worth the money on its own. I feel like (for the first time in a while) TNA has "earned" a buy here.

Bill Belicheck said let's go out there and win one for real. And you know what happened? They lost.

I'm watching it now. I loved Angle's promo backstage early in the show. "How can he be training with the best fighters in the world...when I'm the best fighter in the world? " Awesome.

I'm going to be at work tonight during the show...so I won't be able to post about it until after midnight. But the thread is here for when the show is on.

Yeah...but he also showed up for their taboo tuesday show because he was one of the polling options...and his contract had already expired. I think they're on real good terms. However, Christian signed a new 2 year deal with TNA when his first 2 year deal came up...so he's not just using TNA for anything...and seems to generally like it there. I think it's been a great move for him. His matches with Rhino, Joe and Angle have been some of thebest stuff he's had in his career.

I am too. I'm hoping that they spent the time away from writing during the strike refreshing their batteries so we can get back to the goodness that was seasons 1-3...and not what I've really not enjoyed thus far this year.

People should enjoy his matches to their hearts content. Hopefully understanding that he is the biggest black eye on the industry that they are revering him for being good in. That's what makes it a bit different than enjoying a Woody allen movie after he married his stepdaughter. It's more the equivelent of respecting someone who drinks, drives and kills someone for being able to out drink everyone.

Ooh...I still want to see Hogan vs. Jarrett...just because it was announced for 2 different companies...and never happened. It doesn't make it a dream match...but damnit...third times the charm!

Marvin picking Chavo affirms that I made the correct choice picking Kendrick. ...hey look...Truthiness picked Chavo too... Kendrick is DEFINITELY the correct answer...

No...see he was good at his job so that's all ok.

See...now in this poll La Parka would have actually made sense... That's how I want to go. La Parka.

Wow...I'd never heard that song until I just youtubed it.

That's what I'm here for.

I would ask. I know post count doesn't matter...but I would totally ask.

Queer. ... This whole thing is queer.

Just Jarrett. With Angle they had their 2 biggest names feuding because Angle attacked Sting's son...and Sting appeared to have slapped Angle's wife. I wish someone could explain to them how that's the OPPOSITE of how to build that match...

I think what they'll be going for with Joe's title reign (assuming he's winning Sunday...which I am) is that they have more than one main event picture going on. What I mean is...Angle and Sting and to a lesser extent Christian...guys like that don't need the title to tell people that their programs are important. Joe needs it to lend him the credability of being a real "Main event" guy...and not just the guy they sometimes put in the main event. Therefore...they could really have Joe wrestle anyone for the title and it's a part of a package of things that are why you should watch. It's what WWE should be doing with RAW. If Orton retains at Baclash...what was the point of putting HHH and Cena in there? There's 2 Main Event guys who don't need to be around the belt (Orton does) and you could have 3 legit interesting programs going on. That's what I'd like to see TNA do. Have Joe defending the title, Put Angle with Styles, Christian with Tomko, and let Sting do whatever it is Sting does. That's 4 things that I would be into seeing in the next 6 months without even getting into LAX and the tag division, The awesome Knockouts division, The X division, or even Booker T, or Abyss when he returns The roster is incredibly deep.