By Jim Fusco:
On Sunday, my brother Mike, my father, and Chris Moore took a trip up to Lowell, MA for Total Nonstop Action’s (TNA) “Lockdown” Pay-Per-View event. We LOVE wrestling and have loved watching it for all our lives (except for Chris, who started watching a couple years ago) and this was our first time seeing TNA live.
I love TNA wrestling- it reminds me of the old WCW days that I loved so dearly. I just can’t do WWE- the matches are slow, they’re so vulgar sometimes, and I just plain cannot stand Vince McMahon.
So, this was a very exciting event for us. We took the 2-plus hour drive to Lowell and got ready for the event. Right when we walked in, there were wrestlers Black Machismo Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt (along with SoCal Val) out there taking photos and signing autographs. It was so cool- you’d NEVER see something like that at a big WWE event. At least not in such a low-key manner.
Then, wrestlers Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin (of the Motor City Machineguns) and Roxxi Laveaux came out to do a photo shoot/autograph session for charity.
The venue wasn’t huge, but they filled up over 90% of it. They announced a new attendance record for TNA, too! I estimate there were about between 6,500 and 7,000 people and it was a crazy crowd. I couldn’t talk for a whole day afterwards due to all the screaming.
My brother Mike and I got a chance to get our photo taken with one of the REAL TNA Tag Team Championship belts! We were SO excited- not gonna get THAT at a WWE show! Here’s the photo:
Then the action started with the TNA X-Division X-cape match for the X-Division Championship. The participants were Jay Lethal [c] vs. Curry Man vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Johnny Devine vs. Shark Boy vs. Consequences Creed. We were pulling for Shark Boy all the way (who got the loudest fan reaction), but Black Machismo ended up winning in the only “cheap” win of the night. And, even though it was kinda cheap, we were all still happy Johnny Devine didn’t win, so it was okay.
Actually, the matches were of a caliber I’ve never seen on a TNA Pay Per View. I constantly frequent websites like TNA Wrestling News and read reviews of TNA Pay Per views. They ALWAYS get terrible reviews, telling people not to waste their money. But this one was exactly the opposite for a few reasons:
1. No ridiculous finishes or anyone coming in to interfere! NONE!
2. All the matches, with the exception of maybe the first half of the Queen of the Cage match, were simply great.
3. EVERY SINGLE HERO WON! Without exception- Jay Lethal, Roxxi Laveaux, Booker T., B.G. James, Team Cage (Sting, Christian Cage, Rhino, Matt Morgan, Kevin Nash), Samoa Joe, Gail Kim and O.D.B.- EVERYONE!
We got to see our favorite all-time wrestler, Sting. We got to see a new World Heavyweight Champion in Samoa Joe, and we didn’t have to see any cheap stuff like we’re used to seeing in many high-profile matches.
It was the experience of a lifetime and I can’t wait until they come back our way! I hope TNA lasts forever, because I love every minute of it!