#10: Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe, TNA Lockdown (4/13/2008).
This is a Six Sides of Steel Cage Match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. If Samoa Joe loses, his career is over.
After a year and a half, the rivalry between two of TNA's biggest stars is set to end for the time being in the main event of the PPV where every match took place inside a steel cage. The gift of age has given me the wisdom to see that when I was a kid, this idea was actually pretty stupid. Still, it gave us this match, which is unique in being a hybrid of MMA and Pro Wrestling.
That's apparent immediately as UFC fighter Frank Trigg is on commentary, and UFC fighter Marcus Davis (The Irish Hand Grenade!) is here as Joe's training partner for this match. Even more apparent is Angle, who enters the ring wearing only MMA style trunks. He's barefoot, too. This feels less like a wrestling match, and more of an MMA fight.
Both men are in great shape, as they exchange kicks and kneebars. Angle hits a beautiful takedown, and Joe hits a nasty soccer kick to Angle's head. What is this, the PRIDE Grand Prix? Despite the unique nature of this, the fans are red hot for it all. I personally didn't expect this structure when I saw it back in 2008. There's a ton of submission attempts and takedowns. Not a bad way to tell the story, even though it doesn't feel as heated as the feud would have you believe.
Angle hits a great Chop Block to the front of Joe's leg, and works on it for an extended period. He's laser focused, and he has a great strategy. Joe fights back with a powerbomb that, I kid you not, looks like it bounces Angle's head off the mat like a damn basketball. Joe gets a Crossface locked in, and Angle counters by lifting himself up and hitting the Olympic Slam.
Joe gets the Coquina Clutch in, and Angle gets to the ropes, which gets a rope break. Why? This is a Steel Cage Match - that means no rules! Joe then tosses Angle face first into the cage, which is the only use of it as a weapon in this entire match. It's a Cage match, TNA! Joe wins the championship and saves his career in a unique match that was executed well. I don't think it matched the intensity coming in, but it was a fresh way to tell the story. It's crazy how their first match, back at Genesis in 2006, felt way more intense and violent, than this final showdown a year and a half later.