Sheik Abdul Bashir, real name Shawn Davari, has re-signed with TNA, despite rumours of the WWE being interested in  a return. To be honest, I can’t see him, or anyone signing with TNA if the WWE want them, but Jeremy Borash had the following on his Twitter:

JeremyBorash: Sources tell me Sheik Abdul Bashir has signed a new multi-year contract with TNA. Everyone put on your turbans!

No, Jeremy. I’m not wearing a Turban. But I am looking forward to seeing Davari pushed!  I always thought he was grossly underutilised whilst in WWE.

Greetings readers!  Well, let’s talk about TNA lockdown.  Of course, as always you won’t find a match-by-match recap of the Pay Per View. Why? Well, because you can find that anywhere.  Just as with the WWE Raw Rewind,  you’ll get a unique persepective with great insight where we pull the curtain back and give a real story behind the storylines.   So here’s a few things that stood out at TNA Lockdown.

Dudley Boys vs. Beer Money - TNA Tag Team Championship
They played up the entire ECW-Philadelphia connection  so well that they had the Philadelphia crowd chanting ‘ECW’ throughout the match.  Though the announcer’s didn’t acknowledge it, there were loud, clear and somewhat nostalgic.  Do you think that this is a positive or negative for TNA?   On the positive side, they got exactly what they wanted. They had the Dudleys promo over and over about how they invented hardcore in Philadelphia with the original ECW and how they wanted “their fans” to come out.  They even brought Balls Mahoney, Spike Dudley and Stevie Richards back from the abyss of obscurity to make sure that that crowd came out.  Hell, they should’ve just said “Hey all you original ECW fans! Come to our TNA show in Philadelphia!” But it worked.  Now, the negative.  Is it just me or does it say something about your promotion when the live crowd is chanting for not only another promotion, but a promotion that folded nearly a decade ago (let’s face it people. The WWE’s ECW is NOT the ECW that was so popular in Philadelphia during the 90’s.  WWE’s ECW has midgets dancing with kids. The original ECW had kids getting caned). This brings me to what I believe is TNA’s biggest problem - they continue to live on the past!  While it may have been kind of cool to hear those ‘ECW’ chants in Philadelphia, the stomping ground of ECW, what does it really mean for the rest of the country?  How will this help TNA expand?  Ok, we know that the Dudley’s “built ECW” and “Made History”.  Really nice for the Philadelphia crowd and for the memories of those 3,000 people that packed the ECW Bingo Hall in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  As was the case with keeping the original ECW in business, one region of exceptionally vociferous fans will not help business.  It didn’t work for the original ECW and it won’t work for TNA.   Or will it?

Mick Foley / Cactus Jack vs. Sting - TNA World Championship
The theme of ‘living in the past’ theme was solidified with TNA Lockdown’s Main Event.  I knew this day would come especially since Foley had gone on record to say that he wanted a rematch with Sting when he arrived in TNA. Personally, I enjoyed the match.  I enjoyed re-living some of the classic bouts these guys had in the early 90s. The nostalgia was kinda cool, but the in-ring work was NO WHERE near their matches in the 90s.   But did the TNA fans enjoy what was a pretty crappy match by any measures.  The match was really old school - and more “old” if from any school at all.   Foley seemed to have blown up pretty early in the match, as did Sting.  It was also very slow placed. Isn’t that a no-no in today’s wrestling?  Aren’t wrestlers supposed to jump around in a rediculous spotfest for 10 minutes now?  There are only a few guys that can have slow matches and can keep the fans interested. And, though I’d never thought I’d say this about a year ago but Rick Steamboat is one of those people. Another person is Ric Flair - up until his retirement, of course.  There were ‘boring’ chants very early on during this match, but Foley and Sting were able to turn it around very quickly and get the crowd back into it.  With that said - again, I enjoyed the match. I thought both men worked very hard (even though they didn’t really do much) including Sting blading, which I haven’t seen much! In fact, I haven’t Sting work that hard much. But, both guys are veterans of the game and it came through here.  As I mentioned they both bled big time, complete with Foley using a barbed wire baseball bat and smashing it into Sting’s face. Finals of the match came when Foley suddenly decided to climb the cage. Sting decided to do the same, but on the other side.  Foley won the race and through himself onto the apron in  a pretty flat ending. Crowd popped once he won, though.

This match was OK. Like I said and entertaining slow paced match. But for those of you that weren’t around (or that just didn’t get to see the good stuff) here’s Catcus Jack vs. Sting in two parts from 1991.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x20NMq-KMIo&hl=en&fs=1]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8_FXMAx8rg&hl=en&fs=1]

What does Foley as TNA World Champion mean?
Many people are criticising this move, saying that Foley is over the hill and all that - but let’s take a closer look, shall we?  First of all, it’s the WWE that ‘retired’ Foley in the eyes of the fans.  He wants to wrestle - always did.  Maybe he didn’t necessarily  want to jump off of the top of cages, but as he said in his TNA promos - he is a WRESTLER.   It’s just that his less than stellar relationship with Vince McMahon didn’t help that cause.  The fact of the matter is that when Foley is on TNA TV, ratings go up.  However, in the bigger picture, the big question is can Foley DRAW as Champion.  Again - PERSONALLY - I’m happy as a heck in a heckfest full of hecks that Foley is a World Champion once again.  But do you think they should give the ball to a young guy with a bright future? AJ Styles comes to mind.  Bobby Lashley, who showed up on Lockdown also comes to mind - but he looks to be involved in the whole Jeff Jarrett - Kurt Angle situation for now.  Isn’t this what failed WCW?  What do you think?   Should TNA stick with the old boys on top, or should they give the young talent a chance, finally?