[2014-03-09-TNA-Lockdown] Magnus vs Samoa Joe

[Superstar Sleeze]

TNA World Heavyweight Champion Magnus vs Samoa Joe - TNA Lockdown 2014 Shoot Style Rules

TNA 2014-2017 is a dark time man, well I guess you have the Broken Hardy stuff but outside of that, it is really surprising that company made it out the other end intact. Another dreadful finish that mars an otherwise decent match. I am all for overbooking/run-ins I think they can be great spice for a match but when they are random or forced they come off as heatless and as anchor. A maskless Abyss drags Joe down into the DEPTHS OF HELL aka underneath the wrestling ring. Joe comes out. He is all enraged and Magnus sells shock & fear well, but they have lost the crowd. Joe throttles Magnus but they have ZERO heat. Magnus is not great at being over the top that's what this needed. He is a very muted seller. Abyss hits him with the nail bat and Black Hole Slam. KOs Joe. Of course what is funny is if this was a one-on-one Abyss vs Joe match a Black Hole Slam probably would have been just a nearfall. Magnus slaps on the Koquina Clutch to trigger the tap out. 

Terrible finish aside, we dont watch wrestling just for that, how was the match beforehand? I was curious to see how Magnus would work as a champion. Overall, I found him to be very bland and dull. He is not particularly good at any one thing. He comes across as competent. He was a part of the Dixieland stable and was being treated as a Paper Champion that was being propped up by the Stable. By 2014, stooging is dead, so I was not expecting a stooging heel but this would have been the perfect time. There was not much cowardice. There not much in the way of heel selling. Heel selling is another lost art. It is a type of selling that does not incite sympathy but rather the opposite it makes the viewer want to see the babyface pour it on. He was not a bump & run heel either. Ultimately, he was useless feeding Joe. On offense, his strategy was decent. Lots of counters and evasive maneuvers  to create openings than he would attack from behind. This match was a Joe's Rules match meaning KO or Submission. Magnus did apply the Figure-4 and Camel Clutch. He had a nice Top Rope Elbow Drop. I just didnt see much in character work on either end of the floor whether it was offensively or feeding Joe. He was a competent mechanic. 

As for Joe, he seemed reserved, almost sluggish. It was like he was afraid of blowing up. There were a couple times when I wanted him to kick it into that next gear and really blow this thing open, but it seemed like he didnt have the stamina to do it. Just four months later, working his match with Lashley albeit 10 minutes shorter, Joe really let loose and let the charisma. In this match, I felt like his cardio was hampering him. His offense was definitely the best part of this match. I LOVED his work on the cut of Magnus. His strikes always look amazing. Great use of the Cross-Armbreaker even if a rope break in a No DQ Cage match is bullshit. Musclebuster/Koquina Clutch felt like a big deal. 

I would say this was an average Samoa Joe performance. Great offense, could have picked up the energy but with the right opponent it could have been covered. Magnus is a competent mechanic, but needs to be more expressive and show more character. The finish was the drizzling shits.