#46: Chris Harris vs. James Storm, TNA Lockdown (4/15/2007).
Hello all!
For this week's selection of matches for the blog, I decided to put myself through the fucking ringer, and only watch matches that are historically bad! And let me tell you, this was the easiest week I've had writing this blog, because all these matches are fucking terrible.
First up is this grudge match - a Blindfold Match, inside of TNA's Six Sides of Steel Cage. If you can't tell right away why this is considered bad, please reread this paragraph out loud.
This all stems from the breakup of America's Most Wanted - TNA's premier tag team since the early days - in December of 2006. James Storm attacked his partner Chris Harris with a beer bottle, and effectively blinded him for a period of time.
Harris would return to the company in early 2007, looking to kick his former friend's ass. However, Jim Cornette found it difficult to book Harris against Storm when Harris' vision was impaired. So, to even the odds, this grudge match was made into a Blindfold Match, so that Storm could experience what Harris had gone through. Sounds good, right? It at least makes sense.
The problem is that this match took place at Lockdown, where every match takes place in a Steel Cage. So, this becomes a Blindfold Steel Cage Match - which, if you know your pro wrestling, means that this match is doomed from the start.
This is taking place inside the weird chicken wire cage, which is in place at this event for the....electrified cage match later between Team 3D and LAX later on. Spoiler: That match also sucks.
There is an immediate "Fire Russo" chant. They both tentatively walk around the Ring, attempting to find the other. Storm grabs the ref by mistake. They slowly reach out and pass the other."The crowd is trying to help them." No, they're not. They are pissed.
They each miss a shot at the other. Big "We Want Wrestling" chant. Me too, kid. Harris grabs Storm finally, but he slips away, and we're back to a stalemate. Harris uses the crowd to help him find Storm. A series of shots with the left hand. Storm with a knee to the gut. He tosses Harris into the ropes. And Storm throws punches at the air.
Storm's hood comes off and the ref puts it back on, to the dismay of the crowd. "Boring" chant. Scoop slam by Storm. Harris rolls away and Storm hits an elbow drop on the mat. Storm rakes the face of Harris, and the hood comes off again. He doesn't want to put it on, but the referee forces him to.
Inverted DDT gets a 2 count. Cutter from the middle rope by Harris. Storm starts climbing the cage. Harris uses the crowd to help him catch Storm. They throw punches on the rope against the cage, and Harris spears Storm to the mat. Harris' hood comes off, but he hits a Full Nelson Slam anyway for 2. It goes back on. The crowd hates this. I think there is a Goldberg chant?
Harris puts the Sharpshooter on the ref unknowingly. Storm pulls the mask off and superkicks Harris with the ref down. He gets the win, and the crowd explodes because it's finally over. I'll defend this being a Blindfold match, because it did make sense! And history has showed us that good blindfold matches can happen (Jake Roberts vs. Rick Martel at WrestleMania 7).
But this? It's immediately killed because it's a Cage Match, with blindfolds. If fans are paying to see a show exclusively featuring cage matches, they expect some crazy violence. It was never going to happen here, and it shows. What's even weirder is that one month later at Sacrifice, Harris and Storm engaged in a gory Texas Death Match, which is one of the best matches in TNA history.